F 14-1 S 
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College  of  Missions  Lectureship 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


PROBLEMS  IN 
PAN  AMERICANISM 


BY 


l/ 


SAMUEL  GUY  INMAN 


INSTRUCTOR  IN  INTERNATIONAL  RELATIONS  IN  COLUMBIA 
UNIVERSITY,  SECRETARY  OF  COMMITTEE  ON 
COOPERATION  IN  LATIN  AMERICA 

Author  of  “ Intervention  in  Mexico,"  " Through 
Santo  Domingo  and  Haiti,”  etc. 


NEW 
GEORGE  H. 


YORK 
DORAN  COMPANY 


COPYRIGHT,  1921, 

BY  GEORGE  H.  DORAN  COMPANY 


PRINTED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 


FOREWORD 


There  are  two  Americas — not  North  and  South,  but 
Anglo-Saxon  and  Latin.  If  an  accident  of  history  had  not 
given  them  the  same  names  both  peoples  might  have  been 
spared  the  serious  results  of  ignoring  the  significance  of 
wide  differences  in  historical  inheritance,  religion,  language, 
customs  and  ideals.  But  the  failure  of  both  parties  to 
take  into  account  these  differences  has  been  fatal. 

Future  historians  will  wonder  that  Americans,  North  and 
South,  lived  together  on  this  Continent  so  long  without 
understanding  each  other.  Present  citizens  of  this  America 
of  ours  are  themselves  beginning  to  ask  this  question.  This 
book  is  an  effort  to  help  the  North  American  to  answer  it. 
Guidance  in  the  selection  of  material  from  such  a vast 
field,  has  not  been  the  desire  for  a logical  but  rather  for  a 
psychological  presentation  of  the  problem. 

In  the  first  place,  an  effort  is  made  to  have  the  reader 
share  in  the  author’s  admiration  of  and  belief  in  the  future 
of  the  Latin  American  people.  Since  it  is  unfair,  however, 
in  drawing  up  the  balance  sheet  of  our  friends  to  have  only 
the  credit  side  presented,  the  outstanding  problems  of  our 
Southern  neighbors  are  also  given,  largely  as  they  themselves 
have  stated  them.  With  these  friendly  contacts  established, 
history  is  reviewed  to  show  that  in  the  early  days,  both  in 
the  North  and  the  South,  there  were  warm  reciprocal  desires 
for  Continental  Solidarity,  incarnated  in  Simon  Bolivar  of 
the  South  and  Henry  Clay  of  the  North.  But  the  Mexican 
War  started  a current  of  suspicion,  which  the  Spanish- 
American  War  and  the  extension  of  North  American  con- 
trol over  the  Caribbean  countries  developed  into  hatred. 
The  Monroe  Doctrine  is  shown  to  have  been  well  received 
at  first  in  Latin  America;  reasons  for  later  dislike  of  it  are 


vi 


FOREWORD 


given,  as  well  as  the  place  the  Southern  Americans  would 
like  to  see  the  Doctrine  occupy  today,  in  view  of  the  new 
international  situation  developed  by  the  World  War.  The 
significance  of  the  various  Pan  American  Conferences,  from 
Panama  in  1826  to  Washington  in  1916,  is  discussed  and 
the  radical  changes  brought  about  by  the  World  War  in 
the  whole  problem  of  Inter-American  Friendship  are  studied. 
Next  are  discussed  two  outstanding  questions,  without  the 
understanding  of  which  no  one  can  have  a deep  apprecia- 
tion of  the  present  status  of  American  Relations.  These 
are  the  problems  connected  with  the  intervention  of  the 
United  States  in  the  affairs  of  the  small  countries  of  the 
Caribbean  and  the  resultant  growth  of  the  influential  school 
of  Pan  Latinists,  formed  by  the  leading  writers  of  the 
South  who  are  strongly  opposed  to  the  Pan  Americanists. 
Finally,  an  effort  is  made  to  point  out  a few  practical  steps 
that  North  Americans  might  take  to  overcome  the  handicaps 
of  past  mistakes  and  misunderstandings  and  build  up  a 
true  American  friendship  in  which  both  those  of  the  North 
and  those  of  the  South  shall  be  united  in  the  motto,  sug- 
gested by  an  Argentine  president,  “America  for  Humanity.” 

Since  the  book  is  written  by  a North  American  for  North 
Americans,  the  recognized  right  of  one  to  criticize  those  of 
his  own  household  has  been  used  freely.  The  experiences  of 
fifteen  years’  residence  and  travel  among  Latin  Americans, 
intimate  friendships  with  high  and  low  alike,  presidents, 
professors,  peons  and  patriots,  real  and  counterfeit,  and  a 
continuous  reading  of  their  literature,  have  inspired  the 
desire  to  present  to  my  fellow-countrymen  the  other  side 
of  this  fascinating  problem  of  harmonious  living  on  our 
common  Continent. 

If  I have  presented  here  largely  the  blame  attached  to 
North  Americans  for  the  inharmony  of  the  past,  it  is  not 
because  it  would  not  be  easy  to  show  the  blame  lying  at 
the  door  of  our  neighbors.  But  others  have  done  that, 
sometimes  ad  nauseam.  I therefore  prefer  to  help  us  mag- 
nify the  good  qualities  of  our  neighbors  and  scrutinize 
carefully  our  own  bad  qualities  as  the  best  policy  for  build- 
ing international,  as  it  is  for  building  personal  friendships. 


FOREWORD 


vii 

The  material  here  presented  was  first  given  in  a series 
of  lectures  at  the  College  of  Missions,  Indianapolis,  Indiana. 
Since  that  time  it  has  been  tested  out  in  addresses  at  other 
educational  institutions  both  in  North  and  South  America, 
and  thoroughly  revised  and  enlarged  during  the  author’s 
most  recent  trip  to  Latin  America  in  1921. 


S.  G.  I. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I : ASSETS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 
A land  of  the  future — Room  for  overcrowded  popu- 
lations— Production  of  raw  materials — Market  for 
manufactured  goods — Intellectual  and  moral  re- 
sources— Early  period:  First  universities — Presses — 

Fine  Arts — Literature — Contemporaneous  Period : 
Cosmopolitanism  of  cultured  classes  today — A Mex- 
ican poet — An  Argentine  scholar — Youth  in  the  lead 
— Practical  scientists — Contributions  to  political 
idealism,  governmental  reforms,  racial  relations, 
estheticism — Kindness — Summary  of  assets  assur- 
ing Latin  America’s  place  in  future  world  life  . . 15 

CHAPTER  II : PROBLEMS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 

Latin  Americans’  diagnosis  of  their  own  problems — 
Alberdi  — Sarmiento  — Zumeta  — Bulnes — Rodo  — 
Fombona  — Bunge  — Garcia  — Prada  — Alvarez  — 
Ugarte  — Colmo  — Barcos  — Calderon  — Bomfin — 
Summary — The  Indian  problem — The  system  of 
Latifundios  — Caste — Suffrage— Immigration — So- 
cial problems : Vice,  Alcoholism,  Hygiene — The 
economic  question — Education — Moral  problems — 

The  religious  problem 45 

CHAPTER  III:  EARLY  EFFORTS  TOWARD 
PAN  AMERICANISM 

The  Bolivar  idea — Introductory — Early  expressions 
in  South  America  of  Inter-American  friendship — 
Bolivar’s  idea : The  Panama  Congress,  its  constitu- 
tion and  program,  Instructions  of  United  States 
delegates;  Results  of  the  congress — Further  efforts 
at  unity — The  Second  congress  at  Lima — Beginning 
of  suspicion  of  the  United  States — Differences  be- 
tween various  countries — The  Second  “American 
Congress” — Various  other  efforts  at  unity  . 


IX 


97 


X 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  IV:  EARLY  EFFORTS  OF  THE 
UNITED  STATES  TOWARD  AMERICAN 
FRIENDSHIP 

The  period  of  benevolent  neutrality — Early  North 
American  champions  of  friendly  relations — Diplo- 
matic agents  sent  to  South  America — Clay’s  fight 
for  recognition  of  South  American  republics — Recog- 
nition and  the  period  of  goodwill — The  disastrous 
war  with  Mexico — Consequent  reversal  of  feelings 
in  Hispanic  America — Fear  engendered  by  talk  of 
“Manifest  Destiny” 

CHAPTER  V:  THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE  AND 
LATIN  AMERICA 

Origin  of  the  Doctrine — Contents — Cordial  recep- 
tion in  Latin  America  when  first  announced — Inter- 
pretations of  the  Doctrine  by  leading  authorities — 
How  related  to  collection  of  debts  and  internal  ques- 
tions— Opposition  to  Doctrine  arising  from  imperial- 
istic tendencies — Debate  between  Bingham  and  Cal- 
deron— Confusion  of  Doctrine  with  other  policies — 
The  Monroe  Doctrine  and  the  League  of  Nations; 
Request  of  El  Salvador  for  definition — Proposal  for 
an  American  League  of  Nations  and  joint  Monroe 
Doctrine 

CHAPTER  VI : PAN  AMERICAN  CONFERENCES 

The  United  States  assumes  leadership  in  developing 
Inter-American  friendship — The  First  Pan  Ameri- 
can Conference,  Washington,  1889:  Organization  of 
the  Pan  American  Union — The  Second  Pan  Ameri- 
can Conference,  Mexico,  1901 : Discussions  on  arbi- 
tration—The  Third  Pan  American  Conference,  Rio 
de  Janeiro,  1906 — The  Fourth  Pan  American  Con- 
ference, Buenos  Aires,  1910:  Discussion  of  Monroe 
Doctrine — Results  of  these  conferences — The  Christ 
of  the  Andes — Questions  of  intervention  and  col- 
lection of  debts  as  related  to  Pan  Americanism — 
The  Venezuelan  collection  of  claims — Mediation — 
The  Mexican  experiment — Resultant  Pan  Ameri- 
canism   


CONTENTS  xi 

CHAPTER  VII:  LATIN  AMERICA  AND  THE 
WORLD  WAR 

Economic  changes — New  credits  arranged  with  the 
United  States — Development  of  natural  resources — 

Labor  movement — World  wide  competition  for  Latin 
American  trade — Political  changes — Friendly  atti- 
tude toward  United  States — Spiritual  effects — Hu- 
mility— New  facing  of  moral  issues — Changes  in 
education — Spiritual  unrest — Some  consequent  dan- 
gers— Trade  war — Foreign  economic  domination — 
American  imperialism — Militarism — Materialism — 
Summary 226 

CHAPTER  VIII:  PROBLEMS  OF  THE  CARIB 

BEAN  COUNTRIES 

Gradual  extension  of  North  American  control  over 
the  Caribbean — Strategic  reasons — Economic  reasons 
— Early  relations  with  Cuba — Platt  Amendment — • 
Securing  of  control  over  Panama — Absolute  control 
by  marines  in  Santo  Domingo — Good  and  evil  results 
— How  the  United  States’  dominance  was  sectired 
in  Haiti — The  confusion  of  governments — Evils  of 
militarism — Neglect  of  education — Central  Amer- 
ica’s efforts  at  unity — The  Central  American  Court 
of  Justice — Nicaragua’s  revolutions  which  brought 
the  United  States’  intervention — The  Bryan-Cha- 
morro  Treaty — Salvador,  Champion  of  nationalism 
— Recent  political  changes  in  Guatemala — Feeling  of 
Central  America  toward  the  United  States — Sugges- 
tions concerning  relations  between  the  United  States 
and  Caribbean  countries 270 

CHAPTER  IX:  PAN  AMERICANISM  VS.  PAN 
LATINISM 

Two  schools  in  Latin  America — Early  admiration 
of  the  United  States — Later  developments  of  antip- 
athy— Pan  Latinism — Outstanding  advocates  quoted 
— Godoy — Fombona — Calderon — d’ Albuquerque — 
Vargas  Vila — Nuestra  America — Ugarte — Eduardo 
Prado — Periodicals — Anti-American  propaganda — 

The  school  of  Pan  Americanists — Outstanding  advo- 
cates quoted — President  Brum — Semprum — Barcas 


xii  CONTENTS 

— Lobo — Urtecho — Javier  Prado — Chocano — Gar- 
rigo  — Enriquez  — Various  educators  — Pinochet — 
Need  of  dissipating  misunderstanding — Two  schools 
not  necessarily  antagonistic 

CHAPTER  X:  NEXT  STEPS  IN  INTER-AMERI- 
CAN FRIENDSHIP 

Review  of  relations  between  the  Americas — Early 
friendship  as  typified  by  Bolivar  and  Clay — Change 
brought  by  Mexican  War — Later  steps  in  imperialism 
— Confidence  renewed  by  idealism  of  World  War — 
Present  opportunity  for  friendliness  should  be  im- 
proved by  various  steps — Elimination  of  “Big  Stick” 
and  “Shirt  sleeve  diplomacy” — Reaching  solution  of 
Mexican  question — Caribbean  relations — Improved 
diplomatic  service — Better  acquaintance  with  Latin 
America — New  attitude  toward  the  tropics — Awak- 
ening to  importance  of  American  solidarity  in  devel- 
opment of  proper  relations  with  the  rest  of  the  world 
— Urgency  of  a better  Inter-American  understanding 
— Appreciation  of  different  racial  psychology — Value 
of  educational  interchanges — Study  of  Spanish  and 
English — The  exchange  of  good  literature — Impor- 
tance of  spiritual  ambassadors — The  ideal  American 
a combination  of  the  best  in  North  and  South  . 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

INDEX  


PAGE 

323 


363 

403 

407 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


PROBLEMS  IN 
PAN  AMERICANISM 


Chapter  I 

ASSETS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 

The  opening  of  the  Panama  Canal  changed  the  map  of 
the  world.  It  inaugurated  a world  movement  toward  Latin 
America.  That  movement  was  interrupted  by  the  War  but 
it  has  started  again  writh  new  impetus.  One  only  has  to  go 
into  the  counting  houses,  the  offices  of  steamship  companies, 
of  manufacturing  concerns,  and  into  the  council  room  of 
the  Foreign  Departments  of  the  great  governments  of  the 
world  to  realize  how  intensely  the  commercial  and  political 
organizations  are  stretching  every  nerve  to  extend  their 
influence  into  these  twenty  young  countries.  For  they  are 
the  land  of  the  future.  Unlike  the  old  nations  of  the  Orient 
their  Golden  Age  lies  before  them.  Just  as  the  most  re- 
markable development  of  the  nineteenth  century  took  place 
in  North  America  so  the  most  wonderful  developments  of  ' 
the  twentieth  century  are  destined  to  take  place  in  Latin 
America.  This  is  true  of  Latin  America  principally  because 
of  four  great  outstanding  reasons.  First,  there  is  room 
there  for  the  overcrowded  populations  of  the  world.  Second, 
there  is  power  to  produce  the  food  and  raw  products  for  the 
world.  Third,  those  lands  are  a market  place  for  the  manu- 
factured goods  of  the  world.  Fourth,  they  possess  a re- 
markable circle  of  intellectual  leaders. 

Beginning  at  the  Rio  Grande  and  stretching  on  down 

15 


16 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


through  Mexico,  over  Central  America,  beyond  Panama, 
through  Colombia  and  Venezuela,  the  Andean  countries, 
Brazil,  Chile,  down  through  the  abounding  plains  of  the  Ar- 
gentine to  the  Straits  of  Magellan,  is  the  largest  expanse  of 
undeveloped,  fertile  land  in  the  whole  world.  There  is  more 
undiscovered  territory  in  Brazil  than  there  is  in  the  whole 
continent  of  Africa.  One  state  in  that  mighty  republic 
equals  the  area  of  Great  Britain,  France,  Germany,  Austria 
and  Switzerland.  If  Argentina  were  as  densely  populated 
as  is  the  State  of  New  York,  and  it  is  far  more  capable  of 
caring  for  a dense  population,  it  would  have  225  million 
people  instead  of  its  present  population  of  9 millions.  Ven- 
ezuela is  not  considered  one  of  the  largest  republics  but 
it  has  three  times  more  territory  than  Japan,  while 
Japan  has  a population  equal  to  that  of  all  South  America. 
Arguments  might  have  been  made  in  the  old  days  against 
the  dense  population  of  these  lands  because  they  were 
tropical  but  modern  science  has  overcome  the  difficulties  of 
the  tropics  for  men.  The  island  of  Santo  Domingo  is  said 
to  be  more  capable  of  sustaining  a dense  population  than  any 
other  similar  sized  territory  in  the  world.  The  over-crowded 
populations  of  the  Orient  and  of  Europe  will  without  ques- 
tion seek  the  great  fertile  fields  and  friendly  climates  of  these 
Latin  American  countries. 

The  World  War  has  brought  to  light  the  wonderful  pro- 
ductive powers  of  the  Latin  American  lands.  In  exporta- 
tion Chile  leads  the  world  in  nitrates,  Argentina  in  wheat, 
Mexico  in  oil,  Brazil  in  coflfee,  Cuba  in  sugar,  Bolivia  in  tin, 
Costa  Rica  in  bananas, — in  fact  every  one  of  the  twenty 
Latin  American  countries  is  especially  noted  for  at  least  one 
product  upon  which  the  world  is  absolutely  dependent. 

The  old  idea  in  the  United  States  was  that  Latin  America, 
being  so  largely  made  up  of  Indians  and  illiterates,  offered 
little  opportunity  for  our  commerce.  Business  men  are 
gradually  awakening  to  the  great  error  of  such  an  opinion. 
Little  Cuba,  with  two  and  a half  millions  of  population,  had 
a foreign  commerce  in  1919  larger  than  that  of  China,  with 
400  millions  of  population.  Argentina  alone  did  about  2 
billion  dollars’  worth  of  foreign  trade  the  year  closing  June, 
1920.  In  spite  of  the  revolution  in  Mexico,  the  United 


ASSETS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA  17 

States  sold  more  farm  implements  to  that  country  in  1920 
than  it  did  to  France,  in  the  midst  of  reconstruction  work. 

Because  of  these  basic  economic  facts  there  is  now  going 
on  in  Latin  America  a tremendous  struggle  between  those 
countries  which  were  formerly  allies  for  commercial  and 
cultural  supremacy.  Germany  and  Japan  are  entering 
this  field  with  well  laid  plans.  For  the  first  time  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  United  States  she  too  is  making  a very  serious 
effort  to  occupy  a large  place  in  Latin  American  life.  Some 
of  North  America’s  greatest  business  executives  are  being 
transferred  to  South  America.  Trade  commissions  from 
various  countries  are  met  in  all  parts  of  these  southern  lands. 
Prominent  representatives  of  political  and  intellectual  circles 
from  all  parts  of  the  world  are  also  visiting  these  countries. 
Cultural  supremacy  is  being  fought  for  with  little  less  in- 
tensity than  is  commercial  supremacy.  This  very  struggle 
among  outsiders  has  revealed  to  the  Latin  Americans  them- 
selves their  own  strength.  The  spirit  of  nationalism  is 
growing  rapidly  and  the  people  are  learning  to  play  off  one 
foreign  element  against  another  to  the  advantage  of  the 
national.  They  have  recently  begun  to  develop  their  own 
economic  independence.  Thus  we  have  one  of  the  most 
intensely  interesting  situations  in  any  part  of  the  world. 

These  economic  possibilities  of  Latin  America  have  been 
well  advertised.  But  her  people  justly  complain  that  little 
attention  has  been  paid  by  outsiders  to  the  intellectual  and 
spiritual  assets  of  these  countries.  It  was  the  frank  recog- 
nition of  these  latter  assets  by  Secretary  of  State  Root, 
whose  visit  to  Latin  America  in  1906  has  been  called  the 
greatest  event  in  United  States  history  in  the  first  decade  of 
the  twentieth  century,  that  so  endeared  him  to  the  Southern 
Republics.  He  began  that  remarkable  tour  by  declaring  in 
Rip  de  Janeiro:  “I  bring  from  my  country  a special  greeting 
to  her  elder  sisters  in  the  civilization  of  America.”  Was  this 
a mere  compliment  to  the  Latin  Americans,  an  attempt  to 
match  their  incomparable  courtesy?  The  answer  is  very 
clearly  revealed  by  a hasty  glance  at  the  civilization  of  these 
southern  countries. 

It  will  not  be  necessary  to  enter  into  detail  upon  the  civi- 
lizations developed  by  the  Indians.  The  wonderful  ruins 


18 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


found  in  Mexico,  Central  America  and  Peru  are  among  the 
most  remarkable  in  the  world.  Some  of  the  pyramids  of 
Mexico  are  larger  than  those  in  Egypt  and  the  Maya  ruins 
show  an  architecture  comparable  to  that  of  the  best  of 
ancient  Asia.  The  old  fort  just  outside  the  city  of  Cuzco 
and  the  many  ruined  temples  in  Peru  and  Bolivia  constitute 
some  of  the  greatest  marvels  of  the  archaeologist.  The  city 
of  Machu  Picchu,  recently  unearthed  by  a North  American 
expedition,  has  shown  the  very  great  antiquity  as  well  as  the 
advanced  development  of  these  pre-historic  people.  The 
Incas  and  Aztecs  were  conquerors  of  races  older  than  them- 
selves and  superior  to  them  in  civilization.  Unfortunately, 
most  of  the  evidences  of  their  civilization  were  destroyed 
by  the  fanatical  Spaniards.  As  one  of  the  early  ecclesiastics 
wrote,  “We  found  a great  number  of  their  books,  but  because 
there  was  nothing  in  them  that  had  not  some  superstition  or 
falsehood  of  the  devil,  we  burned  them  all,  at  which  the 
natives  were  marvelously  sorry  and  distressed.”  Surely  we 
share  with  the  natives  such  sorrow  and  distress.  It  is  a 
significant  fact,  however,  that  Mexico  and  Peru  became 
great  centers  of  culture  during  the  Spanish  colonial  regime. 

No  doubt,  however,  Secretary  Root  was  referring  to  the 
civilization  which  the  Spaniards  brought  with  them  and 
introduced  into  these  new  lands.  This  in  itself,  as  a brief 
reference  will  show,  antedated  North  American  culture  by 
many  years. 

FOUNDING  OF  UNIVERSITIES 

It  is  customary  to  think  of  the  early  Spanish  settlers  as 
only  interested  in  gold.  But  the  facts  show  that  they  had 
hardly  landed  on  any  shore  before  they  began  the  task  of  the 
development  of  a cultural  life.  The  first  university  in 
America,  that  of  St.  Thomas,  was  founded  in  Santo  Do- 
mingo in  1538,  a hundred  years  before  John  Harvard  con- 
ceived his  plan  for  a college  in  Cambridge.  It  received  the 
patronage  of  both  the  Pope  and  the  Spanish  king  and  sent  its 
graduates  into  Cuba,  Porto  Rico,  Mexico  and  far-away 
Peru.  Until  Santo  Domingo  lost  its  prestige  it  was  a nota- 
ble center  of  culture  and  missionary  zeal,  causing  the  city 
to  be  known  as  the  Athens  of  the  New  World. 


ASSETS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 


19 


A still  more  famous  school  is  the  old  University  of  San 
Marcos,  founded  in  Lima  in  1551.  Unlike  its  predecessor 
it  has  maintained  a continuous  existence  up  to  the  present 
time,  and  is  thus  the  oldest  university  in  the  New  World.  It 
has  counted  among  its  presidents  and  professors  some  of 
the  most  distinguished  prelates  and  scholars  of  America. 

In  all  the  following  cities  universities  were  organized 
prior  to  the  first  North  American  college:  Mexico,  1553; 
Bogota,  1572;  Cordova,  1613;  Sucre,  1623.  Practically 
all  of  these  universities  had  faculties  of  law,  medicine  and 
theology,  while  North  America’s  first  permanent  professor- 
ship in  theology  was  established  in  1721,  in  medicine  in 
1765  and  in  law  not  until  after  the  Revolution.  A school 
of  surgery,  a college  of  mining  and  a botanical  garden  which 
were  opened  in  the  eighteenth  century  gave  Mexico  City  a 
wide  reputation  for  learning  in  Europe. 

PRINTING  PRESSES 

The  first  book  printed  in  the  New  World  was  by  Fray 
Juan  de  Zumarraga,  the  first  Bishop  of  Mexico,  and  was 
called  “Brief  Compendium  of  Christian  Doctrine  in  the 
Mexican  and  Spanish  Language.”  The  Mexican  historian, 
Icazbalceta,  has  made  most  interesting  historical  researches 
concerning  the  work  of  these  early  printing  presses. 

The  first  printing  press  in  America  was  set  up  in  1539  in 
the  City  of  Mexico.  The  Jesuits  of  Paraguay  built  their 
own  presses  out  in  the  wilderness  where  they  established 
their  famous  missions.  They  reduced  the  Guarani  language 
to  writing  and  made  their  own  type  in  order  to  publish 
books  of  sermons  for  the  Indians.  Among  the  most  curious 
old  manuscripts  in  existence  are  those  still  preserved  in  the 
archives  at  Asuncion  to  reward  the  trip  of  a thousand  miles 
up  the  Parana  River  to  the  Paraguayan  capital.  In  Lima  the 
first  issue  of  the  press  in  1584  was  a catechism  in  the  Qui- 
chua  and  Amara  tongues.  In  spite  of  the  expensiveness  of 
printing  in  those  days,  more  than  sixty  books  were  turned 
off  the  presses  of  Mexico  City  before  the  close  of  the  six- 
teenth century.  In  1620,  the  date  of  the  landing  of  the 
Pilgrims,  there  were  already  appearing  in  Mexico  City  and 


20 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


in  Lima  occasional  leaflets  telling  of  special  events — the 
forerunners  of  our  modern  newspaper. 

With  all  these  historic  developments  it  should  not  surprise 
us  as  much  as  it  usually  does  to  learn  that  the  greatest  mod- 
ern newspaper}  plant  in  the  world  is  found  in  Spanish 
America,  the  magnificent  home  of  La  Prensa  in  Buenos 
Aires.  Its  building  is  one  of  the  great  structures  of  the  city. 
It  houses  not  only  the  ordinary  equipment  of  a great  news- 
paper, but  also  a great  conference  hall,  a suite  of  rooms  for 
the  use  of  distinguished  guests  of  the  city,  a large  restaurant 
for  its  employees,  a clinic  for  the  poor,  a legal  aid  bureau  and 
many  other  community  services. 

ADVANCE  IN  FINE  ARTS 

In  Mexico  and  Peru  during  the  colonial  period  the  Church 
enjoyed  sufficient  revenues  to  enable  it  to  construct  magnifi- 
cent buildings,  especially  when  the  work  was  that  of  en- 
forced labor  of  the  Indians.  Some  of  these  great  churches 
are  to  this  day  the  marvel  of  visitors.  Something  was  done 
in  the  colonies  in  painting,  and  many  of  the  finest  canvasses, 
especially  of  Murillo,  were  brought  from  Europe  to  adorn 
the  walls  of  the  churches  and  the  homes  of  the  rich. 

LITERATURE 

One  who  has  not  especially  studied  the  literature  of  Latin 
America  in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries  is  simply 
overwhelmed  when  he  discovers  not  only  its  abundance  but 
its  merit. 

“La  Araucana,”  by  Ercilla,  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
epics  ever  written.  It  tells  the  story  of  the  struggle  of  the 
Spaniards  in  Chile,  where  after  all  their  sacrifices  they  were 
compelled  to  acknowledge  the  impossibility  of  conquering 
at  least  one  tribe  of  Indians — the  sturdy  Araucanians.  This 
long  poem  was  completed  in  1590. 

Juan  de  Castellano’s  poem  entitled  “Eulogies  on  the  Illus- 
trious Men  of  the  West  Indies,”  written  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  contained  150,000  lines. 

Juana  Inez  de  la  Cruz,  who  lived  in  Mexico  from  1651  to 


ASSETS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 


21 


1695,  was  called  the  “Tenth  Muse”  because  of  her  remark- 
able poetry.  She  learned  to  read  at  the  age  of  three.  She 
took  the  veil  at  seventeen  because  she  was  so  tormented  by 
those  who  admired  her,  both  for  her  beauty  and  her  wonder- 
ful intellect.  At  one  time  she  gathered  in  her  cell  4,000 
volumes.  She  might  be  called  the  first  American  suffra- 
gette. She  wrote  defending  the  education  of  women  and 
while  a girl  herself  begged  her  parents  to  send  her  to  the 
University  of  Mexico  dressed  as  a boy.  Her  ideas  of  the 
Mexican  male  are  given  in  the  following  poem  on  men : 

Stupid  men,  forever  prone 
To  fix  a blame  on  woman’s  reason, 

When  ’tis  merely  your  own  treason 
That  creates  her  fault  alone ! 

With  an  unrestrained  desire 

For  her  downfall  you  are  scheming; 

You  are  of  her  virtues  dreaming 
While  to  ill  alone  you  fire. 

Her  resistance  you  oppose, 

Then,  all  serious,  attaint  her 
Fickle,  light,  and  faithless  paint  her, 

Though  ’twas  you  the  role  that  chose. 

Stupidly  you  would  procure 
Baser  for  a nobler  treasure ; 

Making  Thais  of  your  pleasure 
A Lucretia  chaste  and  pure. 

Nothing  could  be  funnier 

Than  the  tale  of  him  befouling 
His  own  mirror  and  then  scowling 
Because  the  image  was  a blur. 

Whom  is  the  greater  evil  in — 

Though  both  in  wayward  paths  are  straying — 

The  poor  sinner  for  the  paying, 

Or  he  that  pays  her  for  the  sin? 

Come,  from  your  flirting  cease,  and  turn, 

If  may  be,  to  a cool  reflection, 

Then  blame  the  still  alive  affection 
Of  her  you  started  first  to  burn ! 

— Translation  of  Thos.  Walsh. 


22 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


A literary  contest  was  held  in  Mexico  in  1585  in  which 
three  hundred  poets  took  part.  I am  not  sure  that  we  ever 
had  such  a contest  in  North  America  and  we  certainly 
should  not  have  had  three  hundred  poets  here  before  the 
landing  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers.  Senor  Arenos  de  Mello 
reports  that  in  1780  his  great-grandfather,  living  in  interior 
Brazil  1400  kilometers  from  the  sea,  a man  who  had  never 
seen  the  ocean,  listened  in  his  home  to  the  presentation  by  a 
company  of  amateurs  of  some  of  the  tragedies  of  Voltaire. 

In  the  life  of  John  Miller,  an  Englishman  who  took  part 
in  the  struggles  of  Argentina  and  Bolivia  for  independence, 
are  found  some  interesting  references  to  the  great  intellec- 
tual power  of  the  South  Americans.  The  old  patriot  Guara- 
chi,  a native  of  La  Paz,  of  pure  Indian  blood,  was  more 
familiar  with  English  history  than  most  Englishmen.  He 
knew  as  much  concerning  the  civil  wars  between  the  houses 
of  York  and  Lancaster  as  if  they  had  taken  place  in  his  own 
country  and  in  his  own  generation. 

The  Peruvian  Indians  had  natural  talent  for  painting  and 
sculpture.  They  had  little  knowledge  of  the  principles  of 
art,  but  were  able  to  copy  paintings  very  successfully.  One 
picture  painted  by  a native  of  Quito,  which  was  taken  to 
Europe,  was  considered  one  of  the  best  paintings  of  a fine 
private  collection  in  Brussels.  An  Indian  of  Arequipa  made 
some  wood  carvings  representing  Inca  figures,  which  were 
sent  to  the  Emperor  Alexander  of  Russia.  He  was  so  de- 
lighted with  them  that  he  conferred  upon  the  Indian  the 
Order  of  the  Santa  Anna. 

PRESENT  DAY  INTELLECTUAL  CIRCLES 

Nor  did  these  early  intellectual  currents  spend  themselves 
and  disappear  in  the  deserts  and  forests  of  these  lonely  lands. 
It  is  a fact,  startling  to  many,  that  there  is  today  in  the 
capitals  of  Latin  America,  an  intellectual  class  comparable 
to  that  found  in  the  capitals  of  Europe.  My  experience  leads 
me  to  make  the  strong  statement  that,  on  the  average,  the 
intellectuals  of  Latin  America  have  a broader  and  finer  cul- 
ture than  those  of  North  America.  The  North  American  is 
more  specialized  in  his  knowledge.  He  must  “major”  in 


ASSETS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 


23 


some  special  branch  in  college.  One  of  our  great  educators 
has  said  that  the  Doctorate  of  Philosophy,  which  is  a highly 
specialized  course,  is  the  educational  fetish  of  the  United 
States.  A large  percentage  of  our  university  men  lack  that 
general  culture  that  makes  them  agreeable  in  any  company, 
and  capable  of  talking  intelligently  on  any  topic. 

The  educated  Latin  American,  on  the  other  hand,  is  apt 
to  know  how  to  talk  and  act  under  all  circumstances,  as  he 
generally  speaks  several  languages  and  has  traveled  in  many 
countries.  A hundred  examples  of  the  bruskness  of  the 
educated  North  American  as  compared  with  the  refined  man- 
ner of  the  Latin  come  to  the  mind  of  anyone  who  has  often 
seen  the  two  together.  This  was  forcibly  brought  home  to 
me  a few  years  ago  when  I met  a company  of  North  Ameri- 
can educators  in  Rio  de  Janeiro.  They  had  been  specially 
selected  from  our  college  circles  to  visit  South  America  as 
representatives  of  North  American  culture  in  the  promotion 
of  closer  relations  with  South  American  universities.  It 
came  over  one  immediately  on  seeing  them  with  the  recep- 
tion committee  at  Rio  de  Janeiro  at  what  great  disadvantage 
they  appeared  in  comparison  with  their  Brazilian  hosts. 

Another  illustration  was  afiforded  by  a young  Harvard 
graduate  who,  because  of  a brilliant  record,  had  been  given 
a scholarship  and  an  exchange  professorship  in  the  Univer- 
sity of  Chile.  While  waiting  to  be  presented  to  a certain 
class  to  which  a professor  was  talking  about  the  young  man’s 
work,  he  walked  around  the  room  with  his  hands  in  his 
pockets  looking  at  the  pictures  on  the  wall.  The  Chilean 
professor  was  so  incensed  that  he  publicly  requested  him  to 
show  proper  respect  and  be  seated.  Later  the  young  man 
caused  further  criticism  of  Harvard  by  wearing  as  head 
dress  a little  cap,  familiar  to  our  college  campuses,  but  con- 
sidered by  Chileans  as  not  only  childish  but  lacking  in 
respect. 

When  the  Mexican-American  Commission  was  sitting  in 
1916  at  Atlantic  City,  a gentleman  said  to  me,  “Our  men 
must  find  it  very  trying  to  sit  day  after  day  in  conference 
with  those  Mexicans,  so  inferior  in  culture.”  How  highly 
humorous  the  remark  was  could  not  be  lost  on  anyone 
familiar  with  the  personnel  of  the  Joint  Commission.  Some 


24 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


inkling  may  be  gained  by  those  who  were  not  so  acquainted 
from  the  manner  in  which  the  Commission  decided  a certain 
question.  In  view  of  the  superior  culture  of  the  United 
States’  representatives,  they  would  naturally  be  prepared 
to  carry  on  discussions  in  the  language  of  their  foreign 
associates.  Did  they?  As  a matter  of  fact  the  amount  of 
Spanish  possessed  by  the  three  American  commissioners 
was  negligible,  whereas  all  three  of  the  Mexican  members 
spoke  English,  two  of  them  fluently.  The  discussions  were 
in  English.  And  whatever  others  may  think  of  the  Mexican 
Commissioners,  their  American  associates  had  no  illusions 
either  as  to  their  culture  or  as  to  their  intellectual  acumen. 

North  America’s  ignorance  of  those  Latin  Americans 
who  have  made  great  contributions  to  the  literary  and  scien- 
tific world  is  irritating  and  appalling.  Some  ten  years  ago 
there  came  to  this  country  for  a series  of  lectures  a man 
whom  Juan  Velara,  a noted  Spanish  literary  critic,  called 
the  greatest  lyric  poet  in  the  annals  of  Spanish  literature. 
But  his  presence  in  this  country  was  hardly  known  to  any 
outside  the  smallest  Hispanic  circle.  A little  later  he  passed 
into  the  life  beyond  with  hardly  a reference  to  him  in  North 
American  publications.  This  was  Ruben  Dario,  one  of  the 
world’s  outstanding  figures  in  literature. 

A MEXICAN  POET 

What  is  the  single  event  that  has  probably  attracted  more 
attention  in  Latin  America  than  any  other  since  the  signing 
of  the  Armistice?  A North  American  audience  could  not 
guess  in  a thousand  guesses.  It  was  not  the  passage  of  some 
law,  the  victory  of  some  political  party,  the  beginning  of 
some  great  new  enterprise  or  the  defeat  of  treaty  ratification 
by  the  United  States  Senate.  It  was  the  death  of  Amado 
Nervo!  Amado  Nervo?  And  who  was  he?  Nobody,  so 
far  as  the  United  States  is  concerned.  Three  years  ago  he 
passed  through  New  York  on  his  way  from  Mexico  to 
Buenos  Aires  where  he  was  to  serve  his  country  as  Minister. 
It  is  true  that  a few  of  us  met  together  in  a small  lecture 
room  in  Columbia  University  to  listen  to  him  recite  those 
most  marvelous  spiritual  visions  that  have  made  men  nobler 


ASSETS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 


25 


wherever  the  Spanish  language  is  spoken.  But  New  York 
did  not  know  that  he  was  in  her  midst.  Later,  when  he 
died  in  Montevideo,  Argentina  and  Uruguay  sent  battle 
cruisers  to  accompany  his  remains  to  Mexico.  Cuba  caused 
her  warship  also  to  join  the  escort  into  Vera  Cruz.  There 
was  thus  formed  a more  remarkable  demonstration  of  Latin 
American  friendship  than  has  been  seen  for  many  a day. 
For  weeks  it  was  the  principal  topic  of  discussion  in  the 
newspapers  of  Mexico,  Cuba,  Argentina  and  Uruguay. 

Nervo  was  the  philosopher  of  the  quiet  faith,  a man  who 
loved  nature  and  men  and  sleep.  In  one  of  his  little  known 
poems  he  says,  “Friend,  your  poems  are  very  good  and  I 
certainly  enjoy  listening  to  them,  but  what  I realfy  wish  to 
do  now  is  to  go  to  sleep,  for  he  who  sleeps  dreams  and  is 
therefore  a god.” 

Amado  Nervo  is  at  his  best  when  he  interprets  the 
Bible  and  mysticism  in  general.  This  little  stanza  on  a 
Kempis  is  often  quoted  and  misquoted: 

O,  Kempis,  Kempis,  pale  and  ascetic, 

I have  been  sad  for  years, 

There  is  illness  in  my  soul; 

And  it  is  all  on  account  of  the  book  you  wrote. 

The  “Mystics”  shows  Nervo  in  one  of  his  best  developed 
moods.  It  leaves  in  the  mind  of  the  reader  a lingering  sense 
of  procession,  of  pale  browed  pageantry.  Thomas  Walsh 
has  made  a translation  close  to  the  spirit  of  the  original : 

Bards  of  brow  funereal 
With  your  profiles  angular 
As  in  ancient  medals  grand; 

Ye  with  air  signorial. 

Ye  whose  glances  lie  afar, 

Ye  with  voices  of  command; 

Theologians  grave  and  tried, 

Vessels  of  love  meted  grace, 

Vessels  full  of  sorrow  found; 

Ye  who  gaze  with  vision  wide, 

Ye  whose  Christ  is  in  your  face, 

Ye  in  tangled  locks  enwound — 


26  PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 

My  muse  a maid  marmoreal 
Who  seeks  oblivion  as  her  stay, 

Can  find  alone  her  rapture  fanned 

Amid  your  air  signorial, 

Amid  your  looks  that  lie  afar, 

Amid  your  voices  of  command, 

My  soul  that  doth  your  spirit  trace 
Behind  the  incense’s  rising  tide 
Within  the  nave’s  calm  shadow  ground, 

Hath  loved  the  Christ  upon  your  face, 

Hath  loved  your  sweep  of  vision  wide, 

Hath  loved  your  tangled  locks  enwound. 

Away  up  in  Asuncion,  Paraguay,  a thousand  miles  from 
the  coast  but  only  a few  miles  from  some  of  the  wildest 
tribes  of  Indians  in  existence,  one  finds  a circle  of  literary 
men.  One  of  the  few  Americans  who  visited  that  city  not 
long  ago  called  on  a member  of  this  circle.  The  Paraguayan 
was  suspicious  of  him  at  first  and  began  ah  examination : 
“Tell  me  about  my  Emerson,”  he  said  to  the  North  Ameri- 
can, who  fortunately  knew  something  of  the  New  England 
philosopher.  “Tell  me  of  my  Whitman,”  he  said  again,  and 
then,  leaning  back  in  his  chair;  after  a few  minutes  he  said, 
“Now  tell  me  of  my  Po-a  (Poe).  Ah!  That’s  the  finest 
thing  I have  heard  in  a long  time.  You  are  the  first  Ameri- 
can I have  seen  down  here  who  knew  anything  about  my 
Po-a  and  these  other  dear  friends  of  mine.” 

Because  of  Latin  America’s  early  literary  development 
she  has  an  immortal  song  of  the  great  victory  of  Bolivar  at 
Junin.  What  would  we  not  give  had  there  been  a bard  in  our 
Revolutionary  days  to  sing  such  a hymn  in  honor  of  our  own 
Washington!  The  poem  is  entitled  “La  Victoria  de  Junin,” 
and  was  written  by  Jose  Juaquin  de  Olmeda  (1780-1847). 
Here  is  a part  of  this  remarkable  paean,  scarcely  excelled  in 
all  literature.  (Much,  of  course,  is  lost  in  translation.) 

If  to  Americans,  Oh  Liberty ! 

The  solemn  mission  is  by  Heaven  given 
To  curb  and  tame  the  horrid  beast  of  war, 

And  over  all  the  regions  of  the  earth, 

And  over  all  the  waters  of  the  seas 


ASSETS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 


27 


To  spread  thy  sovereign  rule’s  imperial  sway, 
Fear  not  with  such  a hero  as  Bolivar 
That  error  blind  shall  e’er  obscure  thy  light, 
That  superstition  shall  profane  thy  altars, 
That  tyranny  shall  dare  affront  thy  laws. 


For  thee  shall  be  the  glory,  Oh  Bolivar ! 

For  thee  the  right  to  break  the  yoke  of  kings, 
In  their  despite  to  enthrone  the  law  on  high. 


Forever  shall  this  glory  last,  ye  nations, 

And  irresistible  your  free  estate 
Shall  be  before  the  might  and  hateful  league 
Of  all  the  tyrants  that  have  sworn  to  crush  you. 
If  in  a federal  bond  from  pole  to  pole, 

In  war  and  peace  ye  live  fore’er  united. 

In  union  is  your  strength,  union,  Oh  nations ! 
That  ye  be  always  free  and  never  conquered. 


A mightier  work,  Bolivar,  is  this  union 
Than  to  destroy  Spain’s  iron  rod  of  power, 

And  thou  alone  art  worthy  to  achieve  it. 

A bosom  friend  of  Olmeda’s  was  Andres  Bello,  a much 
more  typical  Latin  American  intellectual,  because  he  was 
not  only  a poet,  but  a great  grammarian,  a statesman  and 
pedagog.  His  keen  understanding  of  his  people  is  found  in 
his  pointing  them  to  agriculture  as  one  of  the  surest  anti- 
dotes to  civil  discord  and  international  strife. 

“O  youthful  nations,  ye  who  lift  your  heads 
Encircled  with  new  laurel  wreaths  of  victory, 

Before  the  gaze  of  an  astonished  West! 

Do  honor  to  the  fields,  with  honor  lead 
The  farmer’s  simple  life,  homely  and  frugal, 

Thus  freedom  shall  abide  with  you  forever, 

And  ye  shall  always  curb 

Ambition,  and  respect  law’s  sacred  might.” 

Another  one  of  those  marvelous  brains  that  accomplished 
an  unbelievable  amount  of  work  and  whose  influence  radi- 
ated to  every  corner  of  the  Spanish-speaking  world,  is 
Eugenio  Maria  de  Hostos.  Here  is  one  of  those  Latin 
geniuses  that  seem  to  be  capable  of  doing  any  amount  of 
intellectual  work  in  any  number  of  different  spheres.  He 


28  PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 

wrote  one  of  the  best  treatises  on  constitutional  law  that 
has  been  published.  An  edition  in  English  is  scheduled  for 
the  near  future.  His  educational  principles,  which  were 
given  through  his  years  of  teaching  in  the  normal  school  in 
Santo  Domingo,  show  some  of  the  most  modern  pedagogi- 
cal theories.  It  is  planned  also  to  publish  these  as  soon  as  his 
old  students  are  able  to  work  them  out  from  their  notes.  A 
volume  called  “Meditando”  shows  the  remarkable  intellec- 
tual grasp  of  the  man.  First  there  is  a long  essay  on  Hamlet, 
a splendid  critical  study  of  Shakespeare’s  play;  then  follow 
short  essays  on  several  of  the  great  men  of  South  America; 
a criticism  of  various  authors  in  Santo  Domingo;  a treatise 
on  the  laws  of  teaching,  on  political  themes  and  on  literary 
criticism.  This  remarkable  man  was  educated  in  Spain, 
traveled  all  through  Latin  America,  came  to  be  a recognized 
authority  in  literature  and  politics  in  Argentina,  Chile,  Santo 
Domingo,  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico,  in  all  of  which  countries 
he  lived  for  a more  or  less  brief  period  of  time.  Before 
Europe  had  opened  scientific  careers  to  women,  Hostos  had 
persuaded  the  Chilean  government  to  open  its  courses  in 
medicine  and  law  to  women.  He  was  also  the  first  man  to 
urge  in  Argentina  the  importance  of  the  construction  of  the 
Trans-Andean  railway.  In  Santo  Domingo  he  edited  the 
first  laws  concerning  education  and  directed  for  nine  years 
the  public  education  of  that  country.  While  in  Peru  he 
began  a campaign  in  favor  of  the  protection  of  the  Chinese 
there  and  aided  the  national  government  in  its  controversy 
concerning  the  Oroya  railroad.  He  worked  most  arduously 
for  the  independence  of  Cuba  and  offered  to  earn  by  means 
of  his  pen  a million  pesetas  for  the  Liberal  cause. 

AN  ARGENTINE  SCHOLAR 

I treasure  as  one  of  the  finest  experiences  of  my  life  a 
visit  a year  or  two  ago  to  the  home  of  Dr.  Ernesto  Quesada, 
the  great  Argentine  scholar.  I was  met  at  the  door  by  the 
butler  and  ushered  into  a beautiful  room  filled  with  rare  art 
treasures  and  the  armor  of  forgotten  knights.  From  there 
I was  directed  to  proceed  into  the  adjoining  room,  where  I 
should  find  the  head  of  the  house.  This  was  a large  room 


ASSETS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 


29 


probably  fifty  feet  long,  lined  on  every  side  with  well-filled 
bookcases  running  to  the  very  top  of  the  high  ceiling. 

I advanced  rather  cautiously,  but  hearing  voices  at  the 
other  end,  found  Dr.  Quesada  with  a half  dozen  friends, 
seated  around  the  fireside.  On  being  presented  to  the  guests 
I found  myself  in  the  midst  of  a literary  circle  which  re- 
minded me  of  that  which  used  to  gather  at  Cambridge  in 
the  days  of  Emerson  and  Holmes.  There  was  Dr.  Carlos 
Pena,  combining  the  faculties  necessary  for  a famous  the- 
atrical critic  and  the  editor  of  a forty-volume  work  on  Ar- 
gentine law,  and  several  other  gentlemen  distinguished  in 
the  intellectual  life  of  Argentina,  including  the  Director  of 
the  Historic  Museum  of  La  Plata.  The  conversation  took 
wide  range,  from  university  life  in  the  United  States  to 
secondary  education  and  teachers’  problems  in  Argentina, 
the  celebration  of  the  Fourth  of  July,  the  formation  of  the 
Argentine  soul  from  many  different  sources,  etc. 

We  afterward  broke  up  into  small  groups  and  began  ex- 
amining the  wonderful  library.  Dr.  Pena  accompanied  me, 
showing  me  many  of  the  later  books  of  the  library  and  giv- 
ing me  very  valuable  information  concerning  Argentina 
literature.  It  is  interesting  to  note  how  this  author  works. 
He  asked  me  my  opinion  of  the  plan  for  his  “History  of  the 
Constitution.”  His  thought  was  to  begin  in  a large  cir- 
cumference and  gradually  close  in  until  he  arrived  at  the 
Argentine  constitution  itself. 

In  the  first  place,  there  will  be  a study  of  the  European 
constitutions,  showing  that  these  were  entirely  monarchical 
and  could  have  no  influence  on  the  Argentine  constitution. 
He  will  then  take  all  of  the  American  constitutions,  giving 
the  largest  study  to  that  of  the  United  States,  showing  that 
Argentina  copied  practically  the  entire  constitution  of  the 
United  States.  He  would  then  begin  his  intimate  study  of 
the  constitution  of  his  own  country  and  its  interpretation. 
This  will  be  a two-volume  work  of  about  1,400  pages.  Did 
I think  that  would  be  sufficiently  inclusive?  I replied  that 
of  course  it  would  be  a rather  brief  treatment  of  the  case,  but 
it  would  possibly  suffice. 

It  is  doubtful  if  our  scholars  and  leaders  are  doing  the 
research  work  in  literature  that  is  being  done  in  Argentina. 


so 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


There  seems  to  be  no  limit  to  the  ability  of  authors  there  to 
turn  out  large  tomes.  The  books  by  Dr.  Quesada  are  placed 
by  themselves  in  his  library.  They  fill  more  than  five  feet  of 
space.  One  volume  alone,  the  “Study  of  the  Teaching  of 
History  in  the  European  University,”  has  1,200  pages. 

Before  we  left  that  evening  we  heard  many  things  about 
new  books,  written  by  the  various  authors  present,  books 
that  were  yet  to  appear,  and  arrangements  were  made  for 
future  meetings  when  chapters  of  these  forthcoming  works 
would  be  read  and  criticized  by  this  circle  of  friends. 

By  special  invitation  I returned  to  Dr.  Quesada’s  on  Sat- 
urday evening  to  attend  one  of  his  classes  in  sociology.  It 
was  a very  delightful  experience  to  see  the  close  relationship 
which  exists  between  this  professor  and  the  young  men  and 
women  who  were  invited  into  his  library.  The  subject  was 
“Aztec  Civilization,”  and  a paper  of  nearly  one  hour’s  length 
was  read  by  one  of  the  young  men,  showing  great  familiarity 
with  Aztec  sources  but  not  very  much  power  of  interpreta- 
tion. The  paper  was  followed  by  criticisms  by  the  class, 
which  were  as  keen  as  anything  heard  in  the  graduate  classes 
of  North  American  universities. 

I was  convinced  of  the  accuracy  of  what  one  of  the  uni- 
versity professors  had  said  to  me  the  evening  before,  that  nd 
students  in  the  world  are  better  prepared  intellectually  for 
entrance  into  the  university  than  those  of  Argentina.  “One 
of  our  students  can  be  asked,”  the  professor  said,  “about 
the  geography  of  India,  for  example,  and  he  will  enter  into 
the  most  minute  details  concerning  it.  But  the  great  diffi- 
culty is  that  these  young  men  are  tired  mentally.  They  have 
no  intellectual  initiative.  They  are  not  capable  of  speciali- 
zation or  of  penetrating  to  the  very  roots  of  a subject  and 
drawing  practical  conclusions  from  it.  If  we  want  spe- 
cialists in  any  branch,”  he  added,  “we  must  go  to  North 
America  for  them.” 

YOUTH  IN  THE  LEAD 

A short  time  ago  I was  in  the  office  of  the  director  of 
primary  education  in  Mexico  City,  an  officer  who  controls 
all  primary  education  in  the  city  and  is  the  head  of  an  or- 
ganization with  a budget  of  $6,000  a day  and  em- 


ASSETS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 


31 


ploying  2,000  teachers.  As  one  follows  this  young  man 
through  the  various  offices  in  the  municipal  palace,  sees 
the  respect  everywhere  accorded  him,  hears  the  waiting 
teachers  appeal  to  him  and  is  shown  the  modern,  well-regu- 
lated office  whose  records  keep  him  constantly  informed  of 
every  detail  about  each  individual  school  and  teacher,  in- 
stinctively one  turns  to  see  if  after  all  there  isn’t  some  trace 
of  a wrinkle  or  gray  hair  about  what  seemed  at  first  a boyish 
face.  But  there  is  none  discoverable.  He  is  just  twenty- 
four  years  of  age.  Two  years  ago  a member  of  the  gradu- 
ating class  of  the  Escuela  de  Altos  Estudios  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Mexico,  he  was  president  of  the  National  Student 
Federation.  He  tells  with  enthusiasm  of  his  work  with  the 
students,  which  he  still  continues ; of  how  he  has  been  seek- 
ing to  lead  the  students  from  a “Latin  American  Solidar- 
ity” to  a “Pan  American  Solidarity”;  of  his  earnest  desire 
to  go  to  the  United  States  for  graduate  work;  of  what  he 
believes  the  students  of  these  two  neighboring  peoples  could 
do,  with  the  proper  backing,  toward  developing  closer  friend- 
ship between  the  two  countries,  and  finally  of  what  he  is 
doing  in  his  present  position  to  help  educate  his  people.  At 
this  point  he  produces  statistics  to  show  that  in  spite  of  all 
the  difficulties  with  which  they  are  faced,  which  sometimes 
even  include  lack  of  funds  to  pay  teachers’  salaries,  there 
are  today  more  pupils  enrolled  and  more  schools  open  in  the 
City  of  Mexico  than  there  were  in  1910,  the  last  year  of  the 
Diaz  administration. 

This  is  one  illustration  of  that  which  constantly  im- 
presses the  traveler  in  Latin  America — the  brilliancy  of  the 
student  classes. 

The  students  of  Latin  America  are  probably  more  respon- 
sible for  creating  what  there  is  of  “public  opinion”  in  their 
several  countries  than  any  other  force,  excepting  only  the 
newspapers.  They  exercise  extensive  control  over  educa- 
tional matters  by  means  of  strikes.  This  phenomenon  is 
very  common  in  Latin  America.  Akin  to  the  strike,  which 
is  generally  in  protest  against  something  relating  to  the 
internal  management  of  the  individual  school,  is  the  “dem- 
onstration,” which  is  organized  for  the  purpose  of  protest- 
ing against  some  public  procedure  that  is  believed  to  be 


32 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


wrong.  Student  demonstrations  during  the  war  have  been 
quite  common,  and  often  exercised  immediate  influence. 

If  you  should  call  at  the  suburban  home  of  Oliveira  Lima, 
in  tropical  Pernambuco,  your  first  impression  would  be  that 
ex-President  Taft,  unbeknown  to  you,  was  visiting  Brazil. 
Dr.  Lima  is  wellnigh  our  ex-President’s  exact  double  in 
physical  appearance.  As  you  talk  with  the  great  Brazilian 
you  are  impressed  also  with  the  fact  that  intellectually  he 
is  the  same  quiet,  dignified  type  of  gentleman,  with  the  same 
broad,  sympathetic  nature  and  scholarly  thoroughness  which 
we  admire  in  Mr.  Taft.  His  dissertation  on  international 
peace,  as  we  sat  together  on  his  veranda,  surrounded  by 
palms  and  cocoanut  trees,  was  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
that  I ever  heard.  He  formerly  represented  Brazil  at  the 
Court  of  St.  James.  In  his  London  home  he  collected  a 
library  of  33,000  volumes,  which  he  has  recently  donated  to 
the  Catholic  University  at  Washington,  where  he  now  lives. 
He  is  one  of  the  most  genial  of  men  and  refutes  the  charge 
that  Latin  Americans  cannot  appreciate  a joke.  He  laughed 
most  heartily  when,  referring  to  his  likeness  to  President 
Taft,  I asked  him  if  he  had  heard  why  Mr.  Taft  was  con- 
sidered the  most  polite  man  in  Washington — because  he 
got  up  and  gave  two  ladies  a seat  in  a street  car. 

Pernambuco  was  also  the  home  of  Senor  Nebuco,  one  of 
the  most  cultured  gentlemen  who  ever  graced  the  diplomatic 
circles  of  our  national  capital.  He  completely  won  the 
hearts  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  while  he  was  among 
us  as  Brazil’s  ambassador.  He  was  the  first  diplomat  to 
urge  publicly,  in  his  farewell  address  to  President  McKinley, 
that  all  the  American  nations  should  assume  equally  the 
duties  and  responsibilities  of  the  maintenance  of  the  Monroe 
Doctrine.  Among  the  many  great  deeds  credited  to  his  skill 
is  the  freeing  of  the  slaves  in  Brazil,  which  was  done  not 
by  a terrible  war,  as  with  us,  but  by  a gradual  and  equitable 
arrangement  between  the  government  and  the  slave  owners. 

PRACTICAL  SCIENTISTS  IN  LATIN  AMERICA 

It  is  not  alone  in  the  world  of  letters  that  Latin  Ameri- 
cans find  an  important  place,  but  as  scientists  as  well.  The 


ASSETS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 


S3 


traveler  who  today  approaches  Rio  de  Janeiro  will  have 
little  interest  in  the  old  controversy  as  to  whether  Naples, 
with  its  broad  sweeping  bay  and  amphitheater  of  hills  rising 
over  the  colored  crescent  city,  or  Constantinople,  is  the  most 
beautiful  city  of  the  world.  For  Rio  de  Janeiro — with  its 
blending  of  hill,  mountain  and  valley  crowned  with  tropical 
verdure,  over  all  of  which  preside  the  stately  royal  palms, 
on  the  shore  of  an  island-studded  bay  that  the  early  navi- 
gators imagined  was  a river’s  mouth — Rio  de  Janeiro  is 
immediately  recognized  as  incomparably  the  most  beautiful 
of  the  world’s  cities. 

But  for  many  decades  the  city  was  shunned  by  all  who 
were  not  absolutely  compelled  to  go  there.  Plague  slew  its 
thousands  and  yellow  fever  its  tens  of  thousands.  From 
1891  to  1894  there  were  14,445  deaths  from  yellow  fever 
alone.  But  a young  Brazilian  physician,  Dr.  Oswaldo  Cruz, 
in  one  of  the  most  remarkable  achievements  of  modern 
science,  has  made  Rio  de  Janeiro  as  healthy  a tropical  city 
as  one  may  easily  find. 

Dr.  Cruz,  after  graduating  from  the  School  of  Medicine 
in  Rio  and  taking  further  work  in  the  Pasteur  Institute  in 
Paris,  became  convinced  of  the  possibility  of  making  his 
own  city  as  healthful  as  any  in  the  world.  “Give  me  the 
proper  authority  and  a sufficient  force  and  means  to  work 
with  and  I will  rid  Rio  of  yellow  fever  in  three  years,”  said 
this  young  man  just  past  thirty  years  of  age,  with  no  special 
reputation  and  no  special  knowledge  of  the  disease  or  its 
method  of  propagation.  The  President  took  him  at  his  word 
and  appointed  him  Director  General  of  Public  Health. 

On  April  20,  1903,  less  than  thirty  days  after  his  appoint- 
ment, the  first  case  of  yellow  fever  was  rigorously  isolated, 
and  a campaign  begun  based  on  lines  adopted  by  the  Ameri- 
can Commission  in  Cuba.  With  a force  of  seventy-five  phy- 
sicians, a number  of  students  and  a large  force  of  laborers, 
he  began  his  stupendous  task.  When,  in  1906,  he  resigned 
the  position  of  Director  General  of  Public  Health  to  assume 
the  headship  of  the  Institute  of  Tropical  Diseases,  now 
known  as  Oswaldo  Cruz  Institute,  Rio  was  free  from  the 
scourge  of  yellow  fever  and  Dr.  Cruz  became  a world  figure, 
better  known  in  Europe,  it  is  true,  than  in  the  United  States. 


3 4 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


It  was  Aniceto  Menocal,  a Cuban,  who  many  years  ago 
traced  out  for  the  future  construction  of  a canal  across  Cen- 
tral America  the  route  which  was  later  recommended  by  the 
American  engineers  at  the  conclusion  of  their  elaborate  and 
exhaustive  surveys.  Two  young  Peruvians  have  become 
noted  as  aviators — Jorge  Chavez  and  Juan  Bielovucio.  The 
former  was  fatally  injured  at  Demodossola,  Italy,  on  Sep- 
tember io,  1910,  after  having  flown  across  the  Alps.  The 
latter  flew  across  safely  at  the  same  point  in  1913.  One  of 
the  first  and  most  famous  kings  of  the  air,  Santos  Dumont, 
is  a Brazilian. 

latin  America's  political  idealism 

Some  are  inclined  to  ridicule  the  democracy  of  Latin 
America,  and,  in  fact,  it  exists  practically  in  only  a few  of 
the  countries.  In  spite  of  this,  however,  which  is  due  to 
many  historical  influences  easily  pointed  out,  Latin  America’s 
devotion  to  democracy  is  wonderful.  For  example,  Mexico 
in  spite  of  a century  of  disappointments  and  sad  experiences, 
although  she  has  suffered  much,  keeps  to  her  republican 
ideal.  The  execution  of  Iturbide  and  Maximilian,  who 
dared  to  suggest  an  empire,  shows  this. 

The  growing  vision  of  equalitarian,  fraternal,  righteous 
commonwealths,  in  which  the  good  of  all  shall  be  the  quest 
of  each,  has  become  a passion  with  a considerable  group  of 
patriots.  If  in  part  it  is  a recrudescence  of  the  original 
Spanish  genius  for  individualism  and  autonomy  ere  yet  the 
Spanish  state  was  overborne  by  monarchical  absolutism  and 
imposed  tradition,  this  passion  is  more  fully  explained  by 
the  resilience  and  creative  energy  of  the  Latin  American 
mind  itself  when  once  it  is  free  to  follow  its  native  elan. 

This  democratic  idealism  has  only  incipiently  realized 
itself  in  the  overthrow  of  imperialism  and  the  setting  up  of 
republics.  It  has  soaring  dreams  of  the  future.  It  utters 
its  prophecies  in  the  political  ideology  of  statesmen,  the  en- 
thusiasms of  sociologists,  the  fervid  eloquence  of  orators, 
and  above  all  in  the  indigenous  literature  of  the  young  de- 
mocracies, both  poetry  and  prose.  From  the  early  poets — 
Andrade  of  the  Argentine,  Olmedo  of  Ecuador,  Gregorio 


ASSETS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 


35 


de  Mattos  of  Brazil,  Marti  of  Cuba,  de  Tagle  of  Mexico — 
down  to  the  days  of  Santos  Chocano  of  Peru  and  of  Ruben 
Dario  of  Nicaragua,  dean  of  the  present  modernist  school, 
the  American  masters  of  Spanish  and  Portuguese  verse  have 
never  ceased  to  sing  of  new  hopes  and  alluring  prospects  ris- 
ing out  of  the  ruins  of  the  shattered  past. 

There  is  much  strength  in  that  devotion  to  ideal  political 
conditions,  so  often  criticized  by  those  whose  god  is  the 
practical.  Faith  in  grand  sonorous  principles,  in  arbitra- 
tion, democracy,  etc.,  and  generous  vagueness  of  humani- 
tarian declarations,  their  people  in  love  with  the  poetical  in 
politics,  inheritors  of  a heroic  quixotism,  they  often  invoke 
pure  justice  in  a world  usually  governed  by  selfish  inter- 
ests. At  times  this  leads  to  the  most  heroic  self-sacrifice 
and  the  accomplishment  of  things  which  the  practical  Saxon 
would  have  considered  impossible.  Thus  Juaquin  Nabuco 
points  out  that  Princess  Dona  Isabela,  regent  of  Brazil  in 
1888,  declared  voluntarily  the  freedom  of  the  slaves.  She 
thus  separated  herself  from  the  conservatives,  from  the  land- 
lords and  from  slave  owners  and  contributed  directly  to  the 
elimination  of  the  monarchy  and  the  founding  of  the  re- 
public in  Brazil.  Devotion  to  a principle  cost  her  the  gov- 
ernment of  an  empire.  It  was  only  an  idealist  like  Fran- 
cisco Madero  that  seemed  capable  of  rousing  the  Mexican 
people  to  revolt  against  a political  and  economic  despotism 
reaching  back  into  centuries. 

The  French  Revolutions  of  1789  and  1848  both  had  pro- 
found influence  on  the  Latin  American,  the  latter  movement 
finding  echo  in  new  parties  demanding  suffrage,  equality  be- 
fore the  law  and  other  reforms.  The  idealism  of  Lamar- 
tine was  everywhere  shared  in  South  America.  He  had 
written  in  1848  that  “Democracy  is  in  principle  the  direct 
reign  of  God.”  So  groups  appeared  led  by  such  men  as 
Vilbao  and  the  Lastarria  brothers  in  Chile,  Antonio  Guzman 
in  Venezuela,  and  in  Colombia  by  democratic  clubs,  one  of 
which,  because  of  its  appeal  to  Christ  as  the  great  demo- 
crat, was  called  Golgotha. 

The  theory  of  democracy  is  more  carefully  thought  out 
by  Hispanic  America  than  by  us.  We  take  it  for  granted, 
but  she  studies  it.  Latin  America  has  made  the  fullest  con- 


36 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


tribution  to  the  elaboration  of  the  theory  Of  democracy  made 
by  any  people.  By  virtue  of  French  ideas  and  North  Ameri- 
can example  they  threw  off  the  Spanish  monarchy  and  set 
up  a democracy.  With  no  experience  in  self-government 
they  were  in  need  of  a gospel  of  democracy  to  which  they 
could  hold,  even  though  they  wandered  far  from  its  ideal 
in  practice.  Some  of  these  early  writers  seemed  almost  in- 
spired, in  the  Biblical  sense,  so  keen  was  their  analysis  of 
the  situation. 

Montalvo  of  Ecuador  taught  that  “a  sane  and  pure  de- 
mocracy has  need  of  Jesus  Christ.”  He  exalted  Christian- 
ity as  the  author  of  democracy  and  believed  that  democracy 
would  be  the  law  of  the  nations  if  some  day  the  spirit  of 
the  Gospel  were  to  prevail.  Lastarria  of  Chile  was  one  of 
the  greatest  students  of  political  economy  and  defenders  of 
democracy.  In  his  wonderful  book,  “Lessons  in  Positivist 
Politics,”  he  applied  principles  of  Positivism  to  the  evolution 
of  South  America  and  particularly  Chilean  history. 

Juan  Bautista  Alberdi,  almost  unknown  to  us,  was  one  of 
the  greatest  students  of  democracy  that  has  ever  written 
upon  the  subject.  He  believed  that  “philosophy  is  meant  for 
politics,  morality,  industry  and  history,  and  if  it  does  not 
serve  them,  it  is  a puerile  and  a trifling  science”;  while  he 
desired  a philosophy  “in  which  are  distilled  the  social  and 
moral  needs  of  our  country,  a clear  democratic  progression 
and  popular  philosophy”;  he  defended  Protestantism  as  a 
religion  peculiarly  appropriate  for  republics  on  a Catholic 
continent. 

His  fellow  Argentine,  Sarmiento,  better  known,  has  also 
written  some  of  the  best  treatises  on  government  ever  pro- 
duced in  America.  He  became  a friend  of  Horace  Mann, 
while  a resident  of  this  country,  and  found  in  the  United 
States  the  larger  part  of  his  model,  which  he  worked  out 
later  as  President  of  Argentina.  Of  his  more  than  a score 
of  books,  “El  Fecundo,”  one  of  the  best,  has  been  translated 
into  English  by  Mrs.  Horace  Mann. 

If  in  the  practical  development  of  democracy  Latin  Amer- 
ica has  generally  been  behind  North  America,  this  is  not  true 
in  one  important  matter,  the  freeing  of  the  slaves.  Simon 
Bolivar,  himself,  led  in  this  movement  by  ordering  the  lib- 


ASSETS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 


37 


eration  of  the  several  hundred  slaves  on  his  own  estate.  In 
the  Central  American  Congress,  on  December  31,  1823, 
Father  Canas,  rising  from  a sick-bed,  made  an  impassioned 
appeal,  which  reminds  one  of  Lincoln’s  addresses  during  his 
candidacy  for  the  Illinois  Senate,  thirty-five  years  later.  The 
worthy  father  said : “I  come  limping,  and  if  I were  dying  I 
would  come  as  my  last  act,  to  perform  a noble  deed  for  hu- 
manity. With  all  the  energy  with  which  a deputy  should 
promote  the  interests  of  his  country,  I beg  that,  before  any- 
thing else  is  done,  and  on  this  very  day,  our  brothers  who 
are  slaves  be  declared  free,  leaving  free  the  right  of  those 
■who  have  legitimately  secured  these  slaves  to  make  their 
claims  and  the  immediate  creation  of  a fund  for  the  indemni- 
fication of  these  owners.  * * * The  whole  nation  has  been 
declared  free.  Thus  should  also  be  the  individuals  who 
compose  it.” 

The  very  first  article  of  the  decree  which  the  Liberator 
of  Mexico,  Don  Miguel  Llidalgo,  issued  in  1810,  was  “First, 
that  all  owners  of  slaves  shall  give  them  their  liberty  within 
ten  days,  the  penalty  of  death  resulting  in  the  disobeying  of 
this  decree.”  Hidalgo’s  defeat  caused  the  postponement  of 
emancipation  but  this  was  fully  consummated  under  the 
presidency  of  Guerrero  in  1829. 

The  cultured  and  humane  deputy,  Manuel  Salas,  presented 
and  with  his  enthusiasm  carried  through  the  Congress  of 
Chile,  on  October  11,  1811,  a bill  which  provided  that  all 
persons  born  in  Chile  should  be  free,  and  all  slaves  who  set 
foot  on  the  nation’s  soil  should  thereby  become  free. 

Buenos  Aires  followed  with  a similar  law  on  February  2, 
1813,  and  other  Spanish  American  countries  followed  suit. 
In  1838  decrees  of  freedom  were  issued  in  Colombia,  Vene- 
zuela and  Ecuador.  So  it  will  be  seen  that,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  Brazil,  which  was  an  empire,  all  the  Latin  American 
nations  anticipated  the  Emancipation  Proclamation  in  North 
America  by  half  a century  and  by  a lesser  time  the  movement 
in  England,  which  was  consummated  in  1825. 

SOME  GOVERNMENTAL  REFORMS 

Those  who  are  interested  in  the  great  social  and  economic 
problems  that  are  stirring  the  world  today  should  watch  Uru- 


38 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


guay.  It  seems  heretical  for  anyone  to  entertain  any  doubt 
that  the  United  States  of  America,  with  its  president,  cabi- 
net, congress  and  supreme  court,  as  now  formed,  represents 
the  very  last  word  in  democratic  government.  But  Uru- 
guay, after  trying  that  form  for  a century,  has  just  made  a 
radical  change  which  is  expressed  in  a new  constitution 
just  adopted.  For  some  time  this  progressive  little  country 
has  been  attracting  world  attention  on  account  of  certain 
social  legislation  which  seemed  distinctly  radical.  Today, 
with  her  new  constitution,  she  may  be  considered  the  social 
laboratory  of  America. 

Here,  in  brief,  is  what  she  has  done:  The  power  of  the 
president  is  greatly  limited,  the  executive  power  being  di- 
vided between  that  office  and  an  administrative  commission 
of  nine  members  which  is  elected  every  six  years  by  popular 
vote.  This  commission  prepares  an  annual  budget  for  the 
congress,  to  which  it  is  accountable.  Minority  representa- 
tion on  the  commission  is  assured  by  recourse  to  plurality 
of  votes,  as  in  England.  Legislative  powers  remain  in  the 
congress,  but  the  congress  also  elects  the  members  of  the 
supreme  court  of  the  republic,  approves  or  rejects  treaties 
made  by  the  executive  and  has  the  explaining  and  inter- 
preting power  in  questions  involving  the  meaning  of  the  new 
constitution— thus  taking  for  the  legislative  body  the  power 
that  has  always  been  the  peculiar  strength  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States.  Congress  may  call  on  members 
of  the  cabinet  for  explanations  of  their  acts,  as  in  England 
and  France,  and  the  ministers  have  seats  in  the  congress 
with  power  to  introduce  legislation.  When  congress  is  not 
in  session  it  is  represented  by  a permanent  committee,  after 
the  Mexican  plan,  composed  of  members  of  both  houses,  who 
deal  with  the  executive  in  all  matters  of  adjustment  be- 
tween the  two  departments. 

Such  a comprehensive  governmental  reform  cannot  help 
but  yield  highly  instructive  results,  and  the  wise  applica- 
tion of  the  practices  and  principles  revealed  ought  to  make 
for  progress  along  such  lines  in  all  the  western  nations. 

The  following  from  one  of  its  distinguished  writers  is 
not  an  overdrawn  statement  of  Latin  American  intellectual 
life: 


ASSETS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 


39 


“There  are  certain  general  principles,  like  democracy  and 
arbitration,  which  are  scarcely  disputed  in  America.  The 
idea  of  arbitration  as  a judicial  means  of  deciding  interna- 
tional differences  owes  its  origin  to  Bolivar,  the  Liberator 
of  the  New  World.  We  South  Americans  also  have  our 
Walt  Whitman.  Social  sciences  throughout  the  whole  con- 
tinent have  made  greater  progress  than  metaphysics  and 
theology.  Rivals  of  Giddings  and  Lester  Ward  teach  in 
South  American  universities,  and  over  against  the  work  of 
Wheaton  we  can  set  the  work  of  Calvo.  Pragmatism,  the 
philosophy  of  North  America,  is  also  the  philosophy  of 
Spanish  South  America,  and,  in  the  books  of  Alberdi,  a 
sociologist  of  Argentina,  we  find  thoughts  to  which  Wil- 
liam James  and  his  disciples  subscribed  half  a century  later. 
We  are  forced,  then,  to  believe  in  the  definite  relationship 
between  the  physical  order  and  the  moral  order.  The  New 
World  has  a geography  and  a policy  which  give  it  genuine 
originality  as  compared  with  Europe.” 

latin  America's  contribution  to  the  problem  of 

RACIAL  RELATIONS 

The  greatest  of  world  problems  are  those  related  to  the 
living  together  of  different  races.  In  respect  to  acceptance 
of  the  doctrine  that  God  made  of  one  blood  all  the  nations 
of  the  earth,  we  may  find  that  the  Latin  Americans  are 
superior  to  the  North  Americans.  They  did  not  destroy  the 
Aborigines  when  they  came  to  this  new  land  as  did  the 
North  Americans.  They  intermarried  with  the  Indians  and 
today  there  is  no  prejudice  against  them.  Indeed,  the  aver- 
age man  is  much  prouder  of  his  Indian  blood  than  of  his 
Spanish  ancestry.  In  spite  of  the  introduction  of  African 
slaves  and  a resultant  large  negro  population  in  countries 
like  Brazil,  there  is  practically  no  color  line  or  race  problem 
in  any  of  these  countries.  There  is  no  such  aversion  to  the 
Chinese,  the  Japanese  and  the  East  Indians  as  is  shown  by 
the  North  Americans,  Australians  and  Dutch. 

The  distinction  between  the  races  is  in  Spanish  America 
a distinction  of  rank  or  class  rather  than  of  color.  Against 
intermarriage  there  is,  therefore,  no  more  feeling  than  that 


40 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


which  exists  against  any  union  palpably  below  a man’s  or 
woman’s  own  rank  in  life.  If  it  is  rare  for  a pure  white 
to  espouse  a pure  Indian,  that  is  because  they  are  of  different 
ranks,  just  as  it  is  rare  for  a well-born  Englishman  to  marry 
a peasant  girl. 

LATIN  AMERICAN  LOVE  OF  THE  ARTISTIC 

While  our  southern  neighbors  have  not  produced  any  very 
great  artists,  yet  they  have  men  who  stand  high  in  the  world 
of  music,  painting  and  sculpture.  But  here  again,  if  we  take 
the  average  man,  we  find  that  he  is  a much  better  judge 
of  the  artistic  in  music  and  in  other  arts  than  is  the  average 
North  American.  The  “popular”  airs  that  the  band  in  the 
plaza  plays  are  not  the  fleeting  ragtime,  but  are  well-known 
selections  from  the  operas.  The  military  bands  which,  in 
Mexico,  for  example,  are  found  giving  popular  concerts  in 
two  or  three  different  plazas  every  night,  are  made  up  of  the 
lowest  classes.  Music  is  natural  to  them  and  some  of  these 
men  who  have  never  worn  a pair  of  shoes  would  be  capable 
of  accompanying  Tetrazzini  or  Galli-Curci  in  the  “mad 
scene”  from  Lucia. 

The  love  of  the  beautiful  is  remarkably  illustrated  in  the 
Latin  American  cities,  which  are  among  the  most  beautiful 
in  the  world.  The  most  important  official  is  not  ordinarily 
the  mayor,  but  the  man  who  is  responsible  for  the  beautify- 
ing of  the  city.  A few  years  ago  this  official  in  Buenos 
Aires  came  to  believe  that  it  was  necessary  for  the  national 
capitol  and  the  President’s  residence  to  be  united  by  a broad 
avenue.  It  made  no  difference  that  the  cutting  of  this  ave- 
nue would  mean  the  destruction  of  buildings  in  the  most 
crowded  business  section  of  the  city  and  the  expenditure  of 
millions.  The  municipality  gladly  voted  the  necessary  funds, 
condemned  property  and  built  the  beautiful  Avenida  de 
Mayo,  which  is  now  recognized  as  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
in  the  world.  The  heights  of  the  buildings  are  carefully 
regulated.  The  modern  demands  for  the  skyscraper  have 
been  recently  worked  out  by  having  the  higher  part  of  the 
building  set  back  in  the  center  part  of  the  street.  It  is  in- 
teresting to  note  that  New  York  has  followed  the  example 


ASSETS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 


41 


of  Buenos  Aires  in  some  of  her  newest  tall  buildings. 
It  is  hoped  that  we  will  follow  her  example  in  other  things. 
It  is  impossible  to  imagine  Buenos  Aires  or  Rio  de  Janeiro 
allowing  unsightly  gas  tanks  or  New  York  Central  railroad 
tracks  to  be  built  right  along  a beautiful  waterfront  such 
as  the  Riverside  Drive.  There  is  probably  no  waterfront 
more  full  of  natural  beauty  than  the  one  in  Rio  de  Janeiro. 
One  feels  that  it  is  fortunate  that  nature  has  done  this  for 
a Latin  city  rather  than  one  of  our  own,  for  we  might  not 
have  co-operated  with  her  as  has  Rio  de  Janeiro,  resulting 
in  the  most  beautiful  ocean  drive  in  the  world. 

This  love  of  the  artistic  is  found  just  as  strongly  among 
the  most  humble  classes.  The  Mexican  peon  may  have  no 
more  clothes  and  furniture  than  he  can  put  in  a couple  of 
blankets,  but  the  difficulty  of  his  moving  from  one  house  to 
another  is  augmented  by  the  fact  that  he  absolutely  refuses 
to  leave  the  plants  and  flowers  that  are  always  a part  of  his 
existence.  I know  of  nothing  more  pathetic  or  beautiful 
than  to  see  a peon  trudging  along  the  road  with  all  of  his 
belongings  on  his  back,  with  his  wife  and  children  accom- 
panying him,  loaded  quite  as  heavily  with  their  precious 
little  pot  plants. 


KINDNESS 

Perhaps  the  greatest  of  all  characteristics  of  the  Latin 
American  is  his  kindness,  and  open-heartedness.  It  is  the 
thing  above  all  others  that  makes  the  foreigner  so  love  to 
live  in  those  southern  lands.  Charity  is  not  simply  a duty,  it 
is  a matter  of  course.  If  a poor  relative  dies  and  leaves 
helpless  children,  they  will  be  taken  into  the  family,  it  makes 
no  difference  how  little  room  there  may  be  or  how  empty 
the  larder  may  be.  If  one  is  without  a job,  or  in  hard  luck, 
his  more  fortunate  relatives  will  always  lend  a helping  hand. 
There  are  never  too  many  in  any  household  to  keep  another 
out,  if  he  is  needy. 

One  of  the  outstanding  experiences  of  a lifetime  was  that 
of  driving  in  a single  buggy  for  four  hundred  miles  through 
desert  country  in  Mexico,  accompanied  by  my  wife  and  a 
year-old  baby.  We  knew  nothing  of  the  way.  We  were 


42 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


dependent  on  the  country  people  for  lodging,  for  food  for 
ourselves  and  forage  for  our  horse,  for  milk  for  the  baby. 
If  we  had  been  a royal  family,  instead  of  humble  absolute 
strangers  and  foreigners  besides,  we  could  have  received  no 
greater  kindnesses.  Sometimes  we  had  to  drive  for  hours 
before  coming  to  a country  hut.  If  we  stopped  to  inquire 
the  way,  the  reply  would  be  that  we  must  come  in  first  for  a 
cup  of  chocolate.  Then  they  would  tell  us,  and  if  the  road 
was  difficult,  often  someone  would  go  with  us  long  distances 
to  make  sure  that  we  took  the  right  turn. 

SUMMARY 

With  all  these  fine  qualities  in  the  people  and  with  all  the 
riches  of  the  soil,  one  risks  little  in  prophesying  that  Latin 
America  is  to  occupy  a most  important  place  in  future  world 
life. 

Here  then  are  all  the  conditions  maturing  for  great  move- 
ments and  consequences.  Crowded  populations  made  aware 
of  productive,  unoccupied  lands  tend  to  migrate.  The  pro- 
gressive stabilization  of  government  calls  forth  capital  for- 
merly reluctant.  Railroads  throw  open  regions  hitherto  in- 
accessible and  idle.  The  advance  of  scientific  sanitation  ren- 
ders the  old  cities  and  new  territories  safely  habitable.  But 
more  important  than  all  of  these  material  riches  is  the  wealth 
found  within  the  people  themselves. 

As  Clemenceau,  after  his  visit  to  Latin  America,  said : 
“A  country,  whatever  may  be  its  form  of  government,  is 
strong  only  through  its  men,  that  is  through  the  sum  total 
of  its  disinterested  energies.  Now  a people  capable  of  pro- 
ducing men  of  intelligence  and  character  of  those  I fre- 
quently met  during  my  trip  can  confidently  face  the  problems 
of  the  future.” 

Notwithstanding  the  inherited  passion  for  politics,  more 
of  the  youth  of  Latin  America  than  formerly  are  preparing 
themselves  in  engineering,  scientific  agriculture  and  com- 
merce, and  other  productive  vocations.  In  nearly  every  one 
of  these  nations  a group  of  leaders  and  a constituency  are 
either  in  power,  or  are  emerging,  looking  forward,  com- 
mitted to  universal  education,  political  stability,  social  justice 


ASSETS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 


43 


and  international  good  will.  These  brought  to  bear  in  full- 
ness upon  the  limitless  natural  resources  of  the  countries  and 
their  patrimony  will  realize  the  belief  of  most  observers  that 
Latin  America’s  Golden  Age  is  ahead  and  imminent. 

An  illustration  of  what  we  may  expect  Latin  America  to 
contribute  to  the  world,  once  the  average  level  is  lifted,  is 
shown  in  the  following  production  of  the  Cuban,  Jose  M.  de 
Heredia.  Exiled  by  the  Spaniards  in  1823,  he  came  to  Bos- 
ton at  the  age  of  23,  and  eked  out  a few  years  of  miserable 
existence  in  this  country  by  teaching  Spanish.  He  almost 
starved  at  times.  But  he  managed  to  see  Niagara  Falls.  As 
a result,  we  have  his  immortal  description  of  that  great  nat- 
ural wonder. 

Tremendous  torrent!  for  an  instant  hush 
The  terrors  of  thy  voice,  and  cast  aside 
Those  wide-involving  shadows,  that  my  eyes 
May  see  the  fearful  beauty  of  thy  face ! 

I am  not  all  unworthy  of  thy  sight, 

For  from  my  very  boyhood  have  I loved, 

Shunning  the  meaner  track  of  common  minds, 

To  look  on  Nature  in  her  loftier  moods. 

At  the  fierce  rushing  of  the  hurricane, 

At  the  near  bursting  of  the  thunderbolt, 

I have  been  touched  with  joy;  and  when  the  sea 
Lashed  by  the  wind  hath  rocked  my  bark,  and  showed 
Its  yawning  caves  beneath  me,  I have  loved 
Its  dangers  and  the  wrath  of  elements. 

But  never  yet  the  madness  of  the  sea 

Hath  moved  me  as  thy  grandeur  moves  me  now. 

Thou  flowest  on  in  quiet,  till  thy  waves 
Grow  broken  'midst  the  rocks;  thy  current  then 
Shoots  onward  like  the  irresistible  course 
Of  Destiny.  Ah,  terribly  they  rage, — 

The  hoarse  and  rapid  whirlpools  there.  My  brain 
Grows  wild,  my  senses  wander,  as  I gaze 
Upon  the  hurrying  waters,  and  my  sight 
Vainly  would  follow,  as  toward  the  verge 
Sweeps  the  wide  torrent.  Waves  innumerable 
Urge  on  and  overtake  the  waves  before, 

And  disappear  in  thunder  and  in  foam. 

They  reach,  they  leap  the  barrier — the  abyss 
Swallows  insatiable  the  sinking  waves. 

A thousand  rainbows  arch  them,  and  the  woods 
Are  deafened  with  the  roar.  The  violent  shock 


44 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


Shatters  to  vapor  the  descending  sheets. 

A cloudy  whirlwind  fills  the  gulf,  and  heaves 
The  mighty  pyramid  of  circling  mist 
To  heaven.  The  solitary  hunter  near 
Pauses  with  terror  in  the  forest  shades. 

God  of  all  truth ! in  other  lands  I’ve  seen 
Lying  philosophers,  blaspheming  men, 

Questioners  of  thy  mysteries,  that  draw 
Their  fellows  deep  into  impiety; 

And  therefore  doth  my  spirit  seek  thy  face 
In  earth’s  majestic  solitudes.  Even  here 
My  heart  doth  open  all  itself  to  Thee. 

In  this  immensity  of  loneliness 
I feel  Thy  hand  upon  me.  To  my  ear 
The  eternal  thunder  of  the  cataract  brings 
Thy  voice,  and  I am  humbled  as  I hear. 

Sources  of  Further  Information  on  Assets  of  Latin 
America 

Calderon,  F.  Garcia  : Latin  America,  Its  Rise  and  Progress. 
Clemenceau:  South  America  of  Today. 

Coester,  A. : Literary  History  of  Spanish  America. 

Cooper,  C.  S. : Understanding  South  America. 

Ford,  J.  D.  M. : Main  Currents  of  Spanish  Literature. 

Godoy,  F.  Garcia  : Literatura  Americana  de  Nuestros  Dias. 
Goldberg,  Isaac:  Studies  in  Spanish  American  Literature. 

Lima,  Oliveira  : Evolution  of  Brazil  Compared  with  Spanish 
and  Anglo-Saxon  America,  Na  Argentina. 

Shepherd,  W.  R. : Latin  America. 

Root,  Elihu  : Latin  America  and  the  United  States. 

Files  of  “Inter-America”  and  “Bulletin  of  the  Pan  American 
Union.” 


Chapter  II 

PROBLEMS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 

Granting  that  Secretary  Root’s  gracious  and  now  famous 
phrase  concerning  the  salute  due  from  the  younger  civiliza- 
tion of  North  America  to  the  older  civilization  of  Latin 
America  was  entirely  justified  by  the  facts,  as  brought  out  in 
the  first  chapter,  this  does  not  mean  that  Latin  America  is 
not  confronted  with  grave  and  difficult  problems,  on  the 
solving  of  which  her  future  place  in  world  life  depends.  In 
making  up  Latin  America’s  balance  sheet  we  must  examine 
not  only  the  credit  side  of  the  ledger,  but  must  frankly  face 
the  debit  side  as  well. 

LATIN  AMERICANS'  DIAGNOSIS  OF  THEIR  PROBLEMS 

None  have  been  readier  to  recognize  or  franker  to  de- 
scribe the  things  that  are  holding  back  these  nations  than 
have  the  Latin  Americans  themselves.  In  the  beginning  of 
their  independence  they  were  too  taken  up  with  political 
questions  to  consider  in  any  large  degree  social  and  moral 
problems.  The  remarkable  school  of  writers,  to  which  ref- 
erence has  already  been  made,  who  treated  political  idealism 
and  the  problems  of  democratic  government  as  reflected 
from  the  French  Revolution  of  1848,  touched  indirectly  the 
social  problem.  Juan  Bautista  Alberdi,  of  Argentina,  an 
outstanding  authority,  wrote  a book  called  Bases  for  the 
Organization  of  the  Argentine  Republic,  in  which  he  ana- 
lyzed the  evolution  of  Argentina  much  as  Hamilton  in  his 
Federalist  studied  North  American  life. 

Domingo  F.  Sarmiento,  the  greatest  of  Argentines,  was 
the  only  aggressive  worker  for  social  reform  known  in 
South  America  in  the  early  days.  His  two  remedies  for 
social  evils  are  expressed  in  his  own  words  as  follows : 

45 


46 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


“I  have  projected  two  ‘bases’  for  the  regeneration  of  my 
country : the  education  of  the  present  inhabitants,  in  order 
to  raise  them  above  the  moral  and  racial  degradation  into 
which  they  have  fallen,  and  the  introduction  of  new  races 
into  the  society  of  today:  ‘popular  education  and  immigra- 
tion.’ I have  followed  these  two  ideas,  I have  traveled  that 
I might  clarify  them,  perfect  them  and  make  them  practi- 
cable. In  the  prosecution  of  them  I crawled — I must  say 
it,  as  money  was  scarce  with  me — to  the  United  States,  and 
regarding  what  I saw  and  examined  there,  all  my  later  writ- 
ings bear  testimony.” 

But  from  i860  to  1890  books  on  political  and  moral  ques- 
tions were  rare  indeed,  due  partly  to  the  great  international 
wars  of  that  period.  From  about  1890,  however,  we  find  a 
school  of  Latin  American  sociologists  developing,  and  books 
written  since  that  time  show  a keen  analysis  of  the  problems 
of  those  countries. 

In  his  book,  The  Sick  Continent,  Cesar  Zumeta  of  Vene- 
zuela, the  forerunner  of  these  sociologists,  studied  the  out- 
ward and  inward  danger  of  Latin  America,  the  ills  of  the 
race  and  its  questionable  future.  He  and  other  sociologists 
following  him  seemed  to  be  stirred  to  an  analysis  of  the 
weaknesses  of  their  people,  particularly  because  they  believed 
they  saw  a new  imperialism  in  the  United  States  which  was 
destined  to  overcome  Latin  America  if  she  were  not  able 
to  repair  her  weaknesses  and  protect  herself.  In  1899  Fran- 
cisco Bulnes,  a well-known  Mexican  author,  in  The  Future 
of  Hispanic  American  Nations,  wrote  of  the  future  of  Latin 
America  in  comparison  with  the  progress  of  the  United 
States.  A more  pessimistic  outlook  can  hardly  be  imagined. 
He  makes  sport  of  the  legends  concerning  the  riches  of 
Mexico,  Peru  and  Brazil.  The  curse  of  Latin  America,  he 
holds,  is  that  it  is  tropical.  In  those  hot  zones  industrial  and 
progressive  nations  can  never  flourish.  Alcohol  and  laziness 
perpetuate  slavery.  The  entire  stretch  of  territory  from 
Cuba  to  Bolivia  will  have  by  1980,  predicts  this  pessimist, 
lost  its  independence. 

Bulnes  examines  the  Latin  American  vices,  such  as  bu- 
reaucratic selfishness,  jacobinism  and  megalomania.  He  ex- 


PROBLEMS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 


47 


plains  the  South  American  revolutions  by  the  economic  con- 
ditions of  those  countries.  As  industries  do  not  exist,  the 
state  must  feed  the  middle  class,  and  if  it  does  not  satisfy 
their  desires  by  enlargement  of  the  bureaucratic  public  of- 
fices, then  revolutions  begin.  He  doesn’t  find  in  Latin  Amer- 
ican republics  any  of  the  virtues  of  democracy ; not  veracity 
because  they  exaggerate  their  riches  and  grandeur;  not  jus- 
tice because  inequality  and  intolerance  dominate;  not  co- 
operation for  the  public  good  because  of  jealousies  which 
have  been  inherited  from  Spain. 

After  Bulnes  comes  that  friend  of  young  men,  the  Uru- 
guayan author,  Jose  E.  Rodo.  In  his  book,  Ariel,  he  gives 
magnificent  advice  to  his  young  friends.  He  teaches  them, 
as  against  the  solicitations  of  politics,  anarchy  and  violence, 
the  worship  of  the  inner  life,  faith  in  the  multitude,  in  de- 
mocracy, in  the  foundation  of  a future  elite  which  will  de- 
velop freely  in  democracies.  His  ideal  for  all  America  is 
the  conservation  of  Latin  traditions  and  dreams  In  this  pro- 
saic modern  age,  the  fusion  of  the  essential  inspirations  of 
Christianity  and  Hellenism.  Equality  is  provisional,  in- 
equality constant  and  necessary.  Vulgarity  and  utilitarian- 
ism are  essential  attributes  of  the  young  North  American  de- 
mocracy. But  the  excess  of  practical  activity,  the  power  of 
ambitious  plutocrats,  the  mediocrity  of  commercialism,  in 
North  America  work  against  his  ideals  for  South  America 
— which  are  unselfishness,  nobility,  cultivation  of  art  and  of 
intellect.  He  believes  that  in  republics  threatened  by  bu- 
reaucracy there  should  be  a circle  given  up  to  culture. 

Blanco  Fombona  of  Venezuela,  in  his  Political  and  Social 
Evolution  of  Spanish  America,  studies  the  conflict  of  the 
classes  during  the  Spanish  domination,  and  argues  that  civil 
wars  are  explained  by  the  mixed  Indian  populations,  the 
sparsity  of  inhabitants,  the  scarcity  of  railroads,  ignorance 
and  lack  of  liberty.  In  spite  of  these  things  he  believes  in 
the  great  destinies  of  the  continent.  “Cities  of  45  thousand 
inhabitants,  as  Buenos  Aires  had  a hundred  years  ago,  now 
have  a million  and  a half.  The  15  million  of  South  Amer- 
ica’s population  in  1810  are  now  70  million.  In  countries 
where  Europe  had  no  investments  formerly  there  are  tre- 
mendous commercial  enterprises  now.  Foreigners  who  a 


48 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


century  ago  were  prevented  in  Spain  from  establishing  them- 
selves in  America,  today  occupy  a large  part  of  the  new 
world.” 

Fombona’s  novel,  The  Man  of  Iron , is  a satire  on  social 
conditions  in  Venezuela,  written  while  in  prison  as  a result 
of  his  governorship  of  the  territory  of  Amazonas,  “as  wild 
as  in  the  days  of  the  conquistadores  and  whose  population 
has  the  reputation  of  assassinating  governors.”  The  book  is 
rich  in  keen  and  sarcastic  conversations  of  special  types  of 
people,  in  descriptions  of  priests,  of  pious  women  and  of 
earthquakes.  Revolutions,  he  finds,  are  often  to  be  ascribed 
to  personal  vanity,  like  the  one  led  by  Joaquin  Luz,  who,  in 
a gaudy  uniform,  addressed  his  bedraggled  followers  as  fol- 
lows : “Redeemers ! Let  us  depart  for  war.  Our  cause  de- 
mands it ; our  country  needs  it.  Let  us  sacrifice  our  lives 
to  overthrow  tyranny  and  restore  law  and  justice.  Weapons 
the  enemy  has.  Take  them  away  from  him.  Hurrah  for 
the  revolution!” 

The  book  of  Bunge,  Our  America,  reminds  one  somewhat 
of  Carlyle’s  pamphlets.  He  writes  concerning  American 
vices,  concerning  the  psychology  of  the  creole  and  of  the 
mulatto,  and  explains  the  power  of  the  great  despots  such 
as  Rosas,  Moreno  and  Diaz.  He  traces  the  lack  of  morality 
to  capitalism  and  the  class  distinctions  common  among  In- 
dians, negroes,  mulattos  and  mestizos. 

Juan  A.  Garcia,  another  Argentine  sociologist,  discusses 
the  weakness  inherent  in  the  imaginative  exaggeration,  the 
“more  or  less”  way  of  putting  things,  the  pessimism,  the 
arrogance,  the  Spanish  blood  which  is  revealed  in  the  lack 
of  respect  for  law,  the  cultivation  of  anger  and  daring.  In 
his  most  famous  work,  La  Ciudad  Indiana,  he  says : “The 
proletariat  leads  a miserable  life,  in  the  most  wretched  huts 
built  upon  waste  lands,  a simple  squatter  upon  the  vacant 
lots  of  the  city  where  he  sets  up  his  shanty.  He  eats  the 
butcher’s  leavings  or  subsists  on  the  alms  of  the  great  house. 
He  has  not  the  least  idea  of  any  possible  social  betterment. 
According  to  his  view  his  situation  is  final,  like  that  of  his 
companions  in  misery,  the  Indians  and  the  negroes.  Work 
is  useless,  and  he  resigns  himself,  aided  by  his  hereditary 
temperament — a term  that  has  been  applied  to  the  effect  pro- 


PROBLEMS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 


49 


duced  by  the  traditional  education,  which  taught  both  the 
oppressors  and  the  oppressed  that  the  world  is  as  it  is  be- 
cause God  wills  and  has  made  it  thus,  and  that  He  is  angry 
with  those  who  rebel  against  His  will  and  sends  upon  them 
terrible  punishments  over  and  above  those  imposed  by  the 
king.” 

Gonzales  Prada,  until  his  recent  death  the  director  of 
Peru’s  National  Library,  one  of  her  most  brilliant  sons,  the 
leader  of  a large  school  of  South  American  literary  men, 
attacks  fiercely  the  immorality  of  Peru.  As  he  examines  her 
life,  he  sees  everywhere  abounding  corruption  and  weakness. 
“Littleness  pervades  everything,  littleness  in  character,  little- 
ness in  hearts.”  He  launches  his  heaviest  invectives  against 
what  he  calls  “la  mentira  social ” — the  social  lie.  He  says, 
“Peru  is  a sick  organism ; wherever  the  finger  is  applied 
to  her  she  exudes  pus.”  Such  conditions  drive  him  to  a 
black  pessimism  and  make  him  exclaim,  “Existence  and  sor- 
row are  synonymous.  The  most  worthy  work  of  a God 
would  be  to  reduce  the  universe  to  nothing.” 

Franz  Tomaya,  a young  Bolivian  sociologist,  says : 

“We  believe  that  peoples  were  made  for  the  service  of 
rulers  and  not  for  the  service  of  peoples ; we  believe  that 
learning  ought  to  be  acquired  to  satisfy  our  personal  con- 
cupiscences, and  not  to  increase  the  welfare  of  all;  we  be- 
lieve that  art,  and  very  especially  the  art  of  writing,  ought 
to  be  treasured  like  a heritage  or  a cow,  instead  of  being  the 
divine,  elevating  and  sublimating  instrument  of  the*  inner 
man  whom  we  carry  within  us ; we  believe  in  the  fecundity 
of  laziness,  in  the  efficacy  of  the  lie,  in  the  lawfulness  of 
every  scheme  that  leads  to  success,  although  it  be  a stranger 
to  honesty.” 

Agustin  Alvarez,  in  his  book,  South  America,  and  in 
countless  articles  published  in  periodicals,  proves  himself  to 
be  one  of  the  keenest  analysts  of  the  reasons  for  the  woes  of 
his  countrymen.  He  is  known  as  the  “Emerson  of  Argen- 
tina.” In  studying  the  causes  of  social  unrest  in  South 
America  he  traces  it  to  the  fact  that  “the  proletarian  was 
surprised  by  the  revolution  headed  by  the  proprietors  who 


50 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


had  been  excluded  from  the  honors  and  advantages  of  pow- 
er, and  which  he  could  not  explain  to  himself  as  a change 
of  political  condition  but  as  a change  in  social  condition, 
because  he  never  felt  the  need  to  govern,  but  had  always 
been  pushed  along  by  the  need  to  live.  * * * So  the  dis- 
appointment of  the  proletarian,  who  had  acquired  in  the 
revolution  the  consciousness  of  his  worth  and  power,  caused 
us  an  additional  thirty  years  of  civil  war.” 

Alvarez  is  particularly  severe  on  the  abuses  of  the  Church 
and  of  the  proprietors  of  the  great  landed  estates.  He  says : 

“The  two  great  calamities  of  the  colonial  period  were  con- 
tempt for  work,  considered  as  a punishment  imposed  by  sin, 
and  fear  of  knowledge,  regarded  as  a risk  for  the  salvation 
of  the  soul.  Upon  these  two  premises  some  consume  in  an 
inverse  proportion  to  what  they  produce,  while  others  pro- 
duce in  an  inverse  proportion  to  what  they  consume,  and 
society  is  composed  of  laborers  brutalized  by  want  and  in- 
genious idlers  luxuriating  in  a hothouse  of  comfort. 

“By  always  viewing  the  qualities  of  others  in  the  light  of 
our  own  interests,  we  attain  at  once  to  the  ingenuousness  of 
the  boy  hunter  who  complained  that  ‘the  quail  are  becoming 
more  and  more  shy  and  will  no  longer  allow  themselves  to  be 
killed.’  He  was  not  different,  certainly,  from  a very  reli- 
gious professor  who  raised  a cry  to  heaven  because  he  had  to 
pay  to  the  peons  of  his  vineyard  a peso  for  eight  hours  of 
work  at  present,  when  formerly  he  paid  them  half  a peso 
for  sixteen  hours,  while  considering  the  increase  in  the  price 
of  grapes  very  just  because  it  meant  money  for  him — and 
the  increase  in  the  cost  of  the  peon  very  unjust  because  it 
was  taken  out  of  his  pocket. 

“This  is  how  Christianity,  which  began  by  being  the  re- 
ligion of  the  humble,  changed  into  the  religion  of  the  power- 
ful, when  the  pastor  turned  into  a potentate  and  could  no 
longer  perceive  the  needs  of  the  ruled  except  as  they  touched 
the  interests  of  the  rulers. 

“According  to  the  theory  of  colonial  morality,  man  was 
born  to  suffer  in  this  world  and  to  reap  his  reward  in  the 
next.  Therefore  the  frightful  cruelty  of  the  tutelary  regime, 
springing  from  natural  instincts,  had  obtained  religious  sane- 


PROBLEMS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 


51 


tion  and  it  could  not  now  be  diminished,  but  rather  was  ag- 
gravated, by  the  pastor  of  souls,  who,  under  the  lash,  ex- 
tracted from  the  hunger  of  the  Indians  the  ecclesiastical 
tributes,  and  under  the  lash  drove  them  to  mass  and  rosary : 
the  degradation  of  man  for  the  glorification  of  God.” 

Manuel  Ugarte,  who  is  today  the  outstanding  enemy  of 
the  United  States  in  Latin  America,  has  written  an  impor- 
tant analysis  of  Spanish  American  life  in  a book  called  The 
Future  of  Latin  America.  He  points  out  with  cruel  frank- 
ness the  weak  points  of  his  people  which  must  be  strength- 
ened if  they  are  to  resist  the  “octopus  of  the  North.” 

Alfredo  Colmo,  professor  of  law  in  the  University  of 
Buenos  Aires,  is  a self-made  man  and  brings  to  the  study 
of  his  people  his  own  struggles  as  a background.  His  book, 
The  Countries  of  Latin  America,  is  the  latest  and  probably 
the  most  extensive  of  the  sociological  treatises  and  is  full  of 
criticisms  of  his  own  people  and  praise  of  the  Anglo-Saxon. 
He  says : 

“What  has  the  United  States  in  common  with  the  coun- 
tries of  Latin  America?  Very  little:  the  incidental  fact  of 
its  geographical  location  in  the  same  hemisphere  and  the 
external  circumstance  that  it  became  independent  at  almost 
the  same  time.  * * * What,  then,  does  it  offer  by  way  of 
unlikeness?  Nearly  everything,  and  in  terms  so  disparate 
that  they  are  but  little  less  than  diametrically  the  opposite  of 
one  another.  Details  and  secondary  matters  apart,  the  con- 
trasts, in  which  these  countries  never  hold  the  place  of  van- 
tage, are  the  following:  populousness  and  habitability; 
wealth  and  misery ; deeds  and  words ; activity  and  atrophy ; 
education  and  inculture;  industry  and  politicalism ; com- 
merce and  militarism ; order  and  impulsiveness ; legality  and 
defiance  of  law ; free  will  and  arbitrariness ; morality  and 
egotism ; truth  and  falsehood ; principles  and  men ; railways 
and  mules ; civilization  and  stagnation  and  even  barbarism ; 
liberty  and  slavery,  etc.” 

The  following  from  an  address  I heard  him  give  on  July 
9th,  1917,  in  commemoration  of  Argentine  independence, 


52 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


gives  an  idea  of  this  scholar’s  way  of  thinking.  Generally 
on  such  occasions  wonderful  eloquence  is  used  in  applaud- 
ing heroes  of  the  past,  but  Dr.  Colmo  entirely  changed  this 
order  of  things.  He  said  at  the  very  beginning,  “I  am  going 
to  make  a simple  talk.  I like  to  talk  to  the  heart  and  not  to 
the  stars.  I want  to  flee  from  academic  discussion.  Latin 
America  emphasizes  entirely  too  much  the  intellectual.  We 
seldom  find  any  of  us  who  have  the  power  of  initiative. 
Anglo-Saxons  are  the  highest  expression  of  character  the 
world  has  ever  known.  A bouquet  is  made  up  of  flowers, 
but  an  independent  nation  cannot  be  developed  except  by 
men.  We  have  an  infinitude  of  riches  in  our  soil  and  yet  as 
citizens  we  are  never  satisfied  until  we  have  gotten  a posi- 
tion w’ith  the  government  and  have  been  able  to  issue  a book. 
Even  if  we  decide  to  exploit  some  of  our  riches,  we  do  it 
not  with  our  own  capital,  but  demand  a concession  from  the 
government.  We  have  emancipated  ourselves  nationally  but 
not  individually.  This  is  the  one  great  problem  before  Ar- 
gentina— to  emancipate  ourselves  as  individuals,  to  initiate 
new  things,  to  stand  against  the  common  sins  and  tempta- 
tions of  the  majority. 

“The  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association  comes  among 
us  and  is  a real  Temple,  which  shows  how  the  Anglo-Saxons 
stand  out  individually  for  what  is  right  and  noble.  I know 
of  no  organization,  whether  it  be  of  laboring  men,  of  a uni- 
versity, of  business  men,  or  what  not,  in  Anglo-Saxon  coun- 
tries, that  has  not  as  its  real  basis  a moral  purpose,  because 
it  puts  emphasis  on  individual  morality  and  initiative.  Too 
often  men  on  patriotic  occasions  cry  ‘Patria!  Patria!’  but 
when  you  look  into  their  lives  you  find  that  they  really  care 
nothing  for  the  Patria.  They  are  dishonest;  they  do  not  pay 
their  debts ; they  do  not  tell  the  truth ; they  are  not  honestly 
working  for  the  good  of  their  country.  The  small  shop- 
keeper, who  never  so  much  as  gives  a grito  for  the  country 
in  public,  but  who  works  constantly  to  build  up  his  little 
business,  to  educate  his  family,  to  treat  his  neighbor  hon- 
estly, is  a greater  citizen  than  the  man  who  makes  speeches 
continually,  crying  out  publicly  for  the  Patria.” 

Sr.  Julio  R.  Barcos,  a leader  of  the  younger  generation 


PROBLEMS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 


53 


who  has  lived  a good  deal  in  the  United  States,  published 
in  his  magazine,  Cuasimodo,  a remarkable  series  of  articles, 
in  which  he  takes  decided  issue  with  such  writers  as  Rodo, 
Ugarte  and  Fombona: 

“Alberdi  is  not  writing  a mere  literary  paradox  when  he 
says  that  ‘next  to  the  liberators,  the  poets  are  the  most  dan- 
gerous enemies  of  liberty  in  South  America.’  For  a cen- 
tury these  false  idealists,  wrapped  in  the  romantic  style,  have 
had  the  floor  in  the  government,  in  society  and  in  the  realm 
of  literature  in  Hispanic  America.  They  found  a world 
ready  made,  and  their  mission  has  been  to  reverence  it  ser- 
vilely, thus  perpetuating  the  prejudices  and  castes  of  the 
colonial  period.  We  have  to  confess  that,  thanks  to  such 
educative  elements,  we  are  still  spiritually  molded  after  the 
image  and  likeness  of  our  mother  Spain.  We  have  changed 
only  the  surface  of  our  customs  and  beliefs,  but  in  reality, 
in  the  depths  of  our  psychology,  there  is  in  every  one  of  us 
Hispanic  Americans  an  embryo  soldier,  monk  or  rascal,  a 
remote  inheritance  of  the  Pizarros,  Loyolas  and  Gil  Biases 
who,  in  emigrating  to  these  shores,  grafted  either  their  blood 
or  their  souls  upon  the  aboriginal  stock  of  our  America.  In 
truth,  if  we  do  but  slightly  lift  the  skin  of  our  double  moral 
personality  we  discover  that  while  we  call  ourselves  repub- 
licans we  venerate  monarchy.  We  have  excluded  the  king, 
but  we  preserve  the  royal  pomp,  and  the  enormous  bureau- 
cratic scaffolding  of  the  epoch  of  the  viceroys.  We  are  lib- 
erals at  the  club  and  ultramontanes  at  home ; we  are  gentle- 
men in  form,  idealists  in  words,  and  opportunist  Philistines 
at  bottom  during  the  twenty-four  hours  of  the  day. 

“We  have  had  enough  of  the  camouflage  of  knighthood, 
for  there  is  now  not  a rascal  in  these  lands  who  does  not 
wear  the  harness  of  a knight.  Even  Don  Quixote  in  this 
America,  according  to  Alberdi,  without  ceasing  to  be  always 
the  same  old  fool,  has  become  also  a knave  and  a peculator. 
We  have  a superfluity  of  haughty  and  punctilious  gentlemen 
who  speak  to  us  in  verse  and  poetic  prose,  and  are  lacking 
in  true  men,  genuine  men,  who  move  upon  the  vast  and  mul- 
tiple stage  of  real  life  and  awaken  the  soul  of  these  torpid 


54 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


peoples  to  the  naked  and  terrible  truth  of  their  immense 
vital  problems.  How  many  are  the  great,  noble,  strong 
things  that  remain  to  be  done  in  America ! I shall  be  told 
that  we  are  highly  cultivated  men,  artistic  writers,  eminent 
poets  and  brilliant  politicians,  even  philosophers,  sages  and 
sociologists.  We  have  such,  yes,  as  a luminous  nucleus,  sur- 
rounded by  an  immense  opaque  body  formed  by  our  masses 
— hungry,  barefoot,  filthy  and  illiterate  pariahs.  This  is 
the  general  rule  in  Latin  America.  What  influence  have 
these,  the  intellectual  elite,  exerted  upon  the  fate  of  the  com- 
munity? * * * 

“Everything  remains  to  be  done  among  us;  all  that  has 
already  been  accomplished  by  those  peoples  who  really  live 
the  civilization  of  the  twentieth  century,  while  we  go  along 
on  all  fours,  still  in  the  infancy  of  the  nineteenth  century.  It 
is  high  time  for  us  to  come  forth  from  the  contemplative 
ecstasy  of  our  soft  and  ideal  life,  more  appropriate  to  ori- 
ental potentates  than  to  virile  men,  in  order  to  pass  over  to 
the  dynamic  life  sound  in  body  and  spirit  in  all  their  poten- 
tial forms:  love,  work,  strife,  creation  and  the  constant  ir- 
radiation of  our  personality.  Enough  of  literary  magpies 
without  soul  and  without  a purpose  in  life,  who,  along  with 
malaria  and  uncinariasis,  form  a part  of  our  American  epi- 
demics. We  have  already  poetized  long  enough ; it  is  time 
that  we  abandon  the  cerebral  infantilism  of  ridiculous  lit- 
erary tournaments,  which  have  made  of  every  South  Amer- 
ican a Croesus  in  verse  and  a beggar  in  ideas,  in  order  to 
enter  the  formidable  ideological  tournament  which  affects 
the  very  heart  of  the  social  problems  of  our  epoch ; that  we 
abandon  the  brilliant  rhetoricians  for  thinkers  filled  with 
optimism  and  the  vainglorious  thaumaturges  of  art  for  the 
sincere  priests  of  life;  that  we  redeem  ourselves,  in  short, 
from  the  disease  that  killed  Spain — wordiness — in  order  to 
enter  the  real,  energetic,  laborious  and  fruitful  life,  by  min- 
gling without  cowardice  in  the  torrent  of  the  great  human 
struggle  that  draws  us  toward  the  heroically  intellectual  life 
like  a new  Marseillaise. 

“Welcome  to  our  America  be  all  foreigners,  even  if  we 
do  not  always  share  their  doctrines,  because  they  bring  to 


PROBLEMS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 


55 


us  at  least  a breath  of  intellectual  realism  that  will  cause  us 
to  throw  aside  the  crutches  of  invalids  sunk  in  a quagmire  of 
trickeries  and  imbecilities  peculiarly  ours,  and  advancing 
rapidly  toward  the  future,  putting  ourselves  first  on  a level 
with  Europe  and  surpassing  her  later,  not  in  so-called  ‘cul- 
ture,’ which  is  what  old  men  and  old  peoples  treasure,  but 
in  the  fervor  of  humanity  translated  into  human  redemp- 
tions; that  is,  the  victorious  achievements  of  life:  public 
hygiene,  bread  for  the  people,  individual  liberty,  education, 
redeemed  labor,  joy  for  all,  the  abatement  of  plagues  in  the 
form  either  of  microbes  or  of  men,  the  suppression  of  the 
pariah  by  the  suppression  of  the  master.” 

Garcia  Calderon  is  the  only  author  treating  his  countries’ 
social  problems  whose  work  has  appeared  in  English.  His 
book,  Latin  America,  Its  Rise  and  Progress,  while  more 
philosophical  than  sociological,  is  of  great  importance  as  an 
analysis  of  the  struggle  of  the  new  world  Latins. 

Manoel  Bomfin,  a Brazilian,  has  written  an  important 
treatise  in  his  Latin  America,  in  which  he  traces  most  of  the 
ills  of  these  countries  to  their  inheritances  from  their  mother 
countries.  The  fact  that  their  problems  in  all  the  various 
countries  are  practically  the  same  he  contends  is  ample  proof 
of  the  theory  of  parasitism. 

This  is  not  a complete  list,  by  any  means,  of  the  men  who 
have  written  books  on  the  social  and  moral  problems  con- 
fronting Hispanic  America,  but  it  gives  an  idea  of  this  school 
of  thought  which  has  developed  since  about  1890  and,  as 
was  said  before,  seems  to  have  been  animated  particularly 
by  what  a writer  in  La  Revista  de  Chile  in  1895  called  “The 
brusk  change  in  the  traditional  policy  of  the  United  States 
seen  in  its  present  imperialistic  tendency,  which  will  no  doubt 
consolidate  in  the  great  northern  republic  the  arrogant  pre- 
tensions of  the  politicians  of  the  Blaine  school,  who  consid- 
er it  manifest  destiny  that  their  country  shall  exercise  com- 
mercial hegemony  and  political  tutelage  over  the  rest  of  the 
continent.” 

Three  things  are  particularly  noticeable  about  these  writ- 
ers. The  first  is  the  tendency  to  philosophize  and  generalize 


56 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


rather  than  to  collect  detailed  facts  in  specific  fields  of  in- 
vestigation upon  which  definite  lines  of  advance  could  be 
marked  out. 

The  second  observation  is  that  sociologists  are  entirely 
too  few  in  these  countries.  As  Professor  Megalhaes  of 
Brazil  says,  “We  have  in  Brazil  many  poets,  many  artists, 
many  journalists.  But  it  is  rare  to  find  among  our  public 
men  one  who  dedicates  himself  to  social  studies.  Rare  in- 
deed are  the  practical  works  which  study  national  economy. 
Learned  men  often  prefer  to  exchange  a real  and  irrevocable 
immortality,  which  might  be  obtained  by  serious  investiga- 
tion, for  the  ephemeral  laurels  of  romance  and  of  the 
theatre.’’ 

The  third  important  thing  to  note  about  these  writers  is 
that  all  of  them  express  faith  in  these  countries.  Their 
pessimism  is  confined  to  the  present,  based  on  a defective 
social  system  and  the  lack  of  immigration.  Even  Bulnes  be- 
lieves in  Mexico,  Argentina  and  Chile.  Blanco  Fombona 
says  that  the  balance  sheet  shows  at  the  ending  of  a century 
of  independence  a distinct  amount  in  favor  of  these  coun- 
tries. 

Manuel  Ugarte  thinks  that  the  wonderful  prosperity,  the 
miraculous  progress  and  the  superior  social  conditions  of 
Argentina,  Brazil,  Mexico  and  Uruguay  are  a prophecy  of 
what  may  be  expected  of  the  whole  continent  when  ruled  by 
“a  unified  doctrine.” 

Bunge  thinks  that  in  spite  of  the  inferiority  of  the  mes- 
tizo, the  continent  may  save  itself  by  the  American  people 
assimilating  European  culture  or  by  producing  a civilization 
of  their  own  as  the  Japanese  have  done.  He  affirms  that 
with  the  correction  of  Hispanic  American  defects  his  people 
will  be  superior  to  the  Yankees  and  the  Europeans,  but  he 
falls  under  his  own  criticism  of  “more  or  less”  ways  of  stat- 
ing things  when  he  fails  to  suggest  definite  ways  of  achiev- 
ing this. 

A consideration  of  the  future  place  of  Latin  America  in 
world  life  requires  brief  reference  to  some  of  the  important 
unsolved  problems,  which,  until  solved,  must  hold  these 
countries  back  from  first  place  among  the  nations. 


PROBLEMS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 


57 


THE  INDIAN  PROBLEM 

Although,  as  earlier  indicated,  the  process  of  assimilation 
by  the  Iberian  conquerors  in  the  early  days  went  on  rapidly, 
resulting  in  the  large  mestizo  population  which  constitutes 
the  bulk  of  the  inhabitants  today,  it  must  be  said  that  this 
process  seems  now  to  have  practically  ceased,  leaving  intact 
an  aggregate  community  of  some  eighteen  millions  of  pure 
Indians,  scattered  from  Mexico  to  Patagonia. 

The  early  culture  of  their  own  civilization,  so  remark- 
able among  the  Aztecs  of  Mexico,  the  Mayas  of  Central 
America,  the  Chibchas  of  Colombia  and  the  Incas  of  Peru 
and  Bolivia,  has  been  swept  away  and  they  have  all  been 
segregated  from  the  influence  of  modern  life.  Consequently 
they  stand  out  in  peculiar  and  pathetic  isolation. 

Perhaps  the  most  terrible  indictment  of  the  government’s 
treatment  of  the  Indians  in  South  America  is  made  by  Sr. 
Alcides  Argiiedas  in  his  well-known  book,  A Sick  People, 
for  the  writing  of  which  the  author  is  compelled  to  live  out- 
side of  Bolivia,  his  native  land.  Concerning  conditions 
among  the  Indians  in  Bolivia,  Senor  Argiiedas  says: 

“Blinded  by  different  and  contradictory  creeds,  under  the 
material  and  moral  influence  of  the  priests,  the  patrons  and 
the  public  officials,  his  soul  is  a deposit  of  rumors  from  time 
past.  When  the  flower  of  his  race  was  shut  up  against  its 
will  in  the  heart  of  the  mines,  he  wasted  away  rapidly,  gain- 
ing the  help  and  sympathy  of  none.  * * * This  hate  has 
accumulated  so  that  the  race  has  lost  its  best  characteristics. 
Today  the  Indians  are  the  object  of  general  exploitation  and 
general  antipathy.  When  this  exploitation  in  an  aggressive 
and  brutal  form  arrives  at  a maximum  and  the  sufferers  have 
come  to  the  point  where  they  have  gotten  beyond  the  power 
of  human  endurance,  then  the  Indian  rises,  forgets  his  mani- 
fest inferiority,  loses  the  instinct  of  conservatism  and,  listen- 
ing to  his  soul,  filled  with  hatred,  looses  his  passions  and  robs 
and  assassinates  with  terrible  vigor.  Authority,  patron, 
power,  priest — all  are  forgotten  by  him.  The  idea  of  re- 
prisals and  punishment,  if  it  occurs  to  him,  acts  only  as  on 
the  fiendish  tiger  escaped  from  his  den.  Afterward,  when 


58 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


he  has  given  free  rein  to  all  of  his  passions,  let  the  soldiers, 
the  priests  and  the  judges  come  and  kill  and  rob — it  makes 
no  difference ; and  certainly  they  come.  Certainly  they  kill, 
they  rob,  they  violate,  they  sow  terror  on  all  sides.  Those 
who  escape  death  are  taken  before  lawyers  and  judges,  well- 
read,  whose  occupation  consists  in  showing  the  terrible  ap- 
paratus of  the  law.  The  Indians  are  put  in  obscure  gaols 
and  taken  out  once  in  a while  under  the  armed  vigilance 
of  soldiers  and  made  to  work  ten  hours  a day  without  food 
sufficient  to  sustain  their  poor,  weak  bodies  after  so  much 
privation.” 

The  visitor  to  South  America  will  see  nothing  more  piti- 
ful than  the  Indians  of  Peru  and  Bolivia,  descendants  ot 
great  civilizations  now  forgotten. 

In  Cuzco  one  is  at  the  center  of  the  Indian  population  of 
Peru.  Riding  on  horseback  through  the  Ilcamaya,  one  of 
the  most  wonderful  valleys  in  the  world,  one  has  the  oppor- 
tunity of  seeing  the  Quechuas  in  their  old  haunts,  where  they 
have  lived  for  many  centuries.  Here  are  found  the  ruins  of 
great  temples  and  fortresses.  Wonderful  terraces  running 
up  the  mountain  sides  a thousand  feet  or  more  are  still  under 
cultivation,  although  built  by  pre-Inca  peoples  of  whom  we 
have  no  knowledge. 

In  the  shadow  of  the  magnificent  ruins  which  typify  the 
former  greatness  one  sees,  for  instance,  a company  of  half- 
clad  men  and  women  bearing  the  body  of  a dead  friend  to 
the  grave.  The  corpse  is  wrapped  in  a blanket  and  carried 
on  one  man’s  shoulder  or  between  three  or  four  people.  It 
is  their  one  time  to  enjoy  a holiday.  They  are  invariably 
armed  with  the  cheap  native  gin  and  are  reeling  and  cursing 
and  fighting.  The  fray  becomes  so  interesting  that  they  lay 
the  body  down  and  argue  wildly  with  their  hands.  One  of 
the  women  strikes  a man  and  knocks  him  across  the  corpse. 
A free-for-all  fight  ensues  until  they  are  all  lying  on  the 
ground,  so  drunk  they  cannot  rise.  There  they  lie  until  the 
stupor  is  worn  off  and  then  proceed  to  the  grave.  Maybe 
they  have  a Padre  to  say  the  last  rites  or  maybe  it  has  been 
impossible  for  them  to  collect  sufficient  funds  to  command 
his  costly  services. 


PROBLEMS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 


59 


How  have  the  mighty  fallen!  In  the  old  Inca  days  the 
common  salutation  as  they  passed  one  another  on  the  road 
was  a reference  to  their  two  fundamental  laws.  The  first 
traveler  would  say  “Thou  shalt  not  steal,  thou  shalt  not  lie.” 
The  other  would  reply,  “Nor  shalt  thou  do  either  of  these.” 
The  modern  salutation  is  “Ave  Maria  purissima,”  and  the 
reply  is  “Sin  pecado  concebida”  (Conceived  without  sin). 
Above  the  door  of  the  Catholic  Church  on  the  main  plaza  of 
Cuzco,  next  to  the  University,  are  these  words  in  bold  let- 
ters : “Come  unto  Mary  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden, 
and  she  will  give  you  rest.” 

Anyone  who  wishes  to  understand  how  the  Indians  are 
exploited  by  government  officials  and  priests  should  read 
Birds  without  Nests,  a novel  by  Clorinda  Matto  de  Tur- 
ner, a native  of  this  district.  The  plot  is  developed  around 
a brilliant  young  lawyer,  supposed  son  of  the  governor,  and 
a young  Indian  girl,  who  is  being  reared  by  a philanthropic 
Spanish  family.  When  they  fall  in  love  with  one  another 
and  are  about  to  be  married,  it  is  revealed  to  them  that  they 
are  both  children  of  the  same  priest.  “We  were  born  In- 
dians, slaves  of  the  priests,  slaves  of  the  governor,  slaves 
of  the  chief,  slaves  of  all  who  have  a club  to  drive  us.  In- 
dians! Yes.  Death  is  our  only  and  beautiful  hope  of  lib- 
erty.” Madam  de  Turner,  like  Senor  Argiiedas,  paid  the 
price  of  her  writings  in  banishment  from  her  native  country 
until  her  death. 

In  southern  Chile  I called  on  a former  chief  of  the  Arau- 
canians.  He  received  me  with  as  much  style  as  his  broken 
estate  would  allow  and  had  the  accustomed  feast  prepared. 
But  he  could  talk  of  nothing  except  his  lost  land.  I tried  to 
get  his  mind  away  from  his  troubles  by  telling  him  about  the 
wonderful  city  of  New  York.  He  would  appear  interested 
for  a moment  or  two,  then  would  turn  and  say,  “But  my 
land,  Senor,  my  land !”  Then  I would  try  him  on  the  war, 
telling  him  of  the  tremendous  guns,  the  tanks,  and  all  the 
wonderful  things  that  modern  civilization  has  developed 
with  which  to  kill  men.  This  interested  him  greatly,  but  only 
for  a few  minutes  and  then  again,  “But  my  lands,  Senor. 
You  are  going  back  to  Santiago.  Will  you  not  see  the 
President  and  explain  to  him  how  our  lands  have  been  taken 


60 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


away  from  us  and  that  we  cannot  make  a living  on  the 
little  that  we  have  now?  We  want  our  land.” 

The  following  clipping  from  a La  Paz  daily  duly  pre- 
sents another  side  of  the  Indian  question : 

“To  the  President  of  the  Hon.  Council  of  the  Province 
of  Arque: 

“It  is  my  painful  duty  to  report  the  following  shameful 
charges  against  Isidoro  Claros,  priest  of  Quirquiavi : 

“In  a sermon  he  told  the  Indians  that  those  who  obeyed 
the  municipality  were  savages,  adulterers  and  ex-communi- 
cated ; that  neither  the  municipality  nor  the  President  had 
anything  to  do  with  the  Church.  He  recently  ordered  the 
Indians  to  close  up  a street  which  the  municipality  had 
opened. 

“He  demands  from  the  Indians  taxes  he  has  not  the  least 
right  to  demand. 

“In  less  than  a month  he  has  collected  from  Manuel  Bel- 
tran $56  for  burial  rites  and  $32  for  masses,  and  now  threat- 
ens to  send  his  church  officials  to  take  possession  of  the 
property  of  the  widow. 

“From  Gaviano  Checa,  another  poor  Indian,  he  demand- 
ed $12  for  having  pronounced  a blessing  over  his  deceased 
sister,  but  Checa  not  being  able  to  pay,  the  priest  seized  four 
of  his  sheep  and  intends  to  take  possession  also  of  three 
llamas,  the  property  of  the  deceased  sister. 

“From  another  widow  this  heartless  wretch  has  extorted 
$32  for  masses  and  responses. 

“He  thinks  that  being  a parish  priest  he  is  the  owner  of 
all  the  property  of  the  Indians,  whom  he  fleeces  extrava- 
gantly in  the  face  of  public  outcry.  He  goes  to  their  pre- 
serves in  search  of  sheep,  which  he  secures  by  saying  a few 
prayers  over  their  belongings  in  order  to  keep  away  the  evil 
spirits.  He  intrudes  into  the  huts  and  performs  these  cere- 
monies against  their  wishes.  He  brings  them  from  their 
ranches  and  makes  them  marry  against  their  will,  just  for 
the  money  it  brings  him. 

“In  August  last  he  whipped  a poor  widow  named  Maria 
Tola  from  the  Church  to  her  house,  because  she  had  in- 
formed the  municipality  that  he  had  extorted  $32  from  her. 


PROBLEMS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 


61 


He  left  her,  saying,  ‘That  will  teach  you  not  to  go  to  the 
municipality.’ 

“The  man  does  just  as  he  pleases  and  says  He  fears  no- 
body and  no  authority.” 

Franz  Tamayo  believes  that  the  pure  Indian,  the  native 
Aymara  and  Quechua,  are  the  great  sources  of  national 
energy  in  Bolivia.  The  author  tries  to  show  the  character- 
istics of  the  Indian,  his  virtues  and  his  faults. 

According  to  Tamayo  athletic  contests  have  proven  that 
the  Indian  is  stronger  than  the  white.  “The  most  moral, 
that  is  to  say  the  strongest  element  in  Bolivia,  is  the  Indian; 
then  comes  the  half-breed,  on  account  of  his  Indian  blood, 
and  lastly  the  white,  who  is  the  parasite  of  the  nation,  which 
oaves  its  life  to  the  Indian.” 

The  author  looks  upon  the  petty  task  of  teaching  the  In- 
dian how  to  read  somewhat  scornfully.  The  primary  school, 
as  it  exists  in  Bolivia,  has  weakened  the  Indian  and  made  a 
parasite  of  him,  he  says.  Before  giving  him  instruction, 
they  should  instil  in  him  good  habits.  The  Indian’s  energy 
is  there,  but  it  must  be  guided  in  the  right  direction  and  in- 
tensified, not  weakened  by  a veneer  of  culture. 

The  main  idea  of  the  whole  book  is  this : Bolivian  racial 
characteristics  must  be  studied,  the  destiny  of  the  race  must 
be  foreseen,  and  a national  system  of  education  built  up,  not 
copied  servilely  from  Europe,  but  one  of  their  own  creation, 
adapted  to  existing  facts.  And  for  this  work  the  aid  of  for- 
eign psychologists,  educators  and  sociologists  must  be 
solicited. 

The  Hon.  Ignacio  Calderon,  recently  Minister  of  Bolivia 
to  the  United  States,  invited  to  say  a word  about  the  Indians, 
wrote  as  follows : 

“I  am  glad  to  have  this  chance  to  make  an  earnest  plea 
in  favor  of  the  Bolivian  Indians.  They  are  the  descendants 
of  the  great  Inca  empire,  a people  that  had  reached  a very 
high  degree  of  peaceful  civilization  when  the  Spaniards  con- 
quered and  took  possession  of  their  lands.  The  Inca  Em- 
pire, according  to  tradition,  was  founded  by  Manco-Capac, 
helped  by  his  wife,  Mama-Ocllo,  and  they  based  their  rule 


62 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


and  domain  not  in  the  use  of  force,  but  in  the  teaching  of 
the  arts  of  peace  and  mutual  help. 

“At  the  time  of  Pizarro’s  arrival  the  Inca  Empire  ex- 
tended in  the  north  up  to  what  is  now  Colombia,  and 
towards  the  south  to  northern  Chile  and  Argentina.  Won- 
derful highways  connected  the  various  portions  of  the  vast 
empire,  and  the  people  lived  contented  and  happy  under  the 
fatherly  rule  of  the  Incas.  But  the  Spaniards,  taking  ad- 
vantage of  the  awe  which  they  inspired  with  their  firearms 
and  the  sight  of  ironclad  soldiers  mounted  on  strange  look- 
ing animals — the  Indians  never  having  seen  horses  before 
— subdued  them  easily  and  reduced  them  to  mere  slaves  to 
their  will  and  power. 

“Once  masters  of  the  country,  the  Spaniards  treated  the 
conquered  Indians  more  like  cattle  than  as  human  beings. 
No  right,  no  consideration  whatever,  was  allowed  them.  The 
history  of  the  Indian  race  during  the  centuries  that  have 
passed  since  the  conquest  is  an  uninterrupted  tale  of  woe,  of 
misery  and  degradation.  The  once  noble  and  happy  sub- 
jects of  the  Inca  became  pariahs  in  their  own  land;  mere 
tools  of  the  whims  and  desires  of  their  masters.  All  ambi- 
tion was  thus  taken  away  from  the  Indians  and  distrust  and 
indolence  became  prevalent  instead.  In  spite  of  all  that  they 
are  the  only  agriculturists  of  my  country,  working  in  the 
fields  as  well  as  in  the  mines. 

“The  Bolivian  Government  has  lately  very  commendably 
given  some  attention  to  improving  the  miserable  condition 
of  the  Indians  and  has  established  some  schools  for  them. 
Unfortunately,  neither  are  the  resources  of  the  country  suf- 
ficient nor  are  there  enough  teachers  available,  inspired  by 
that  noble  self-denial  that  moves  the  heart  and  sustains  the 
will  of  the  Christian  missionaries  in  the  great  work  of  edu- 
cating and  improving  the  souls  of  the  downtrodden. 

“There  are  many  millions  of  these  unfortunate  Indians  in 
the  different  countries  of  South  and  Central  America  and 
Mexico,  who  are  in  dire  need  of  help.  They  are  nominally 
citizens  of  the  several  republics,  but  have  little  idea  of  what 
that  means.  As  long  as  they  are  kept  in  their  present  state 
they  will  remain  a great  stumbling  block  to  the  orderly  and 
democratic  development  of  the  various  American  republics. 


PROBLEMS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 


63 


“The  Indian  needs  to  be  educated,  especially  in  manual 
training  and  in  the  use  of  agricultural  implements  to  replace 
the  obsolete  and  primitive  methods  they  now  use.  They 
could  be  taught  carpentry,  blacksmithing  and  other  useful 
and  necessary  industries  that  they  could  do  well  and  which 
could  profitably  meet  their  needs.” 

THE  SYSTEM  OF  LATIFUNDIOS 

At  the  bottom  of  all  the  social  problems  of  these  countries 
is  the  land  question.  In  the  early  colonial  days  great  sec- 
tions of  land  were  given  to  Spanish  settlers  and  whole  tribes 
were  assigned  to  these  landlords  in  order  that  they  might  be 
educated  and  at  the  same  time  furnish  the  labor  necessary. 
The  landlord  generally  forgot  about  his  duty  to  educate  the 
Indian,  but  never  his  duty  to  make  him  work.  Often  the 
church  authorities,  as  was  particularly  the  case  in  Mexico, 
worked  the  Indians  unmercifully  in  building  great  cathe- 
drals. On  passing  through  a city  like  Oueretaro  one  is 
astounded  at  the  number  of  great  churches  and  can  only 
understand  how  it  was  possible  for  these  to  be  built  when  he 
is  told  that  they  cost  the  Church  practically  nothing,  by  rea- 
son of  this  enforced  labor. 

During  the  period  of  independence  also  many  of  these 
lands  have  been  given  to  individuals  for  political  favors,  so 
that  all  over  Latin  America  there  exists  more  or  less  a feudal 
condition.  The  proprietors  of  these  great  landed  estates  in 
Mexico  paid,  before  the  present  Revolution,  abbut  twenty- 
five  cents  a day  for  their  labor.  A man  with  a family  of  a 
dozen  might  be  excused  for  going  in  debt  with  such  a wage. 
In  fact,  the  land  owner  encouraged  his  getting  in  debt.  These 
debts  held  the  man  to  the  farm.  They  are  passed  on  from 
him  to  his  children  and  to  his  grandchildren.  Before  the 
Revolution  if  one  asked  the  price  of  a great  farm  in  Mexico 
he  would  be  told  $100,000,  for  example,  which  would  in- 
clude not  only  the  land  and  the  houses,  but  the  peons  on  the 
land.  That  is,  one  would  buy  their  debts  and  in  that  way 
would  practically  buy  the  workmen  themselves. 

There  are  farms  in  Mexico  which  it  takes  all  day  on  a 
railroad  train  to  go  through.  The  Mexican  census  of  1910 


64 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


showed  that  7,000  families  own  nearly  all  the  fertile  soil 
of  that  country.  The  total  area  of  the  country  is  757,000 
square  miles,  so  these  estates  must  average  over  100  square 
miles  each.  The  Terrazas  estate  in  Chihuahua  contains 
some  13  million  acres,  an  area  as  large  as  Holland  and 
Belgium  combined.  There  is  an  estate  in  Yucatan  said  to 
contain  15  million  acres.  The  peons  on  these  estates  re- 
ceived formerly  twelve  and  a half  cents  gold  a day  and  were 
kept  in  debt  so  that  they  might  be  compelled  to  remain  on 
the  place. 

The  treatment  of  the  Yaqui  Indians  is  a good  illustration 
of  how  the  Indians  generally  have  been  deprived  of  their 
lands.  Their  lands  had  been  held  in  common  since  time 
immemorial,  their  rights  recognized  by  all,  with  no  idea  of 
such  a thing  as  a formal  title.  The  Diaz  Government  passed 
a law  requiring  registration  of  written  titles  to  all  land 
owned.  Since  the  Indians  had  no  idea  of  such  titles,  the 
creoles  took  advantage  of  their  ignorance  and  denounced 
their  lands.  The  Diaz  Government  not  only  recognized  this 
denunciation,  but  often  sent  soldiers  to  drive  the  Indians  off 
the  land.  In  the  case  of  the  Yaquis  they  did  worse,  carry- 
ing them  off  by  the  trainload  to  work  on  the  big  haciendas 
of  Yucatan. 

In  Argentina  there  are  12,000  tracts  of  land,  containing 
from  25,000  to  62,500  acres,  and  1,000  which  contain  more 
than  125  acres.  In  Chile  the  tillable  soil  is  held  by  seven 
per  cent,  of  the  population.  The  ramifications  of  this 
evil  run  out  into  the  economic,  political,  social  and  religious 
life  of  the  people  in  a way  that  makes  it  impossible  entirely 
to  solve  other  problems  until  this  great  problem  is  met. 

THE  PROBLEM  OF  CASTE 

From  what  has  been  said  about  the  land  problem  and 
peonage,  it  is  easy  to  deduce  the  fact  that  in  general  there 
are  only  two  great  classes  in  Latin  America — the  extremely 
poor  and  the  extremely  rich.  The  great  cosmopolitan  cen- 
ters form  exceptions  to  this  rule,  but,  generally  speaking, 
there  is  no  middle  class.  Jonathan  Swift  said  that  society 
was  like  beer  in  that  there  were  three  parts,  the  top,  the 


PROBLEMS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 


65 


froth;  the  bottom,  the  dregs;  the  center  (the  middle  class), 
the  real  strength.  To  the  development  of  a middle  class 
must  the  energies  of  the  leaders  in  government  and  education 
be  given. 

SUFFRAGE 

This  matter  is  wrapped  up  in  questions  of  illiteracy  and 
others  cited.  Calderon  says:  “If  these  republics  persist  in  a 
magnificent  continent  their  failure  will  be  explained  not  by 
the  poorness  of  the  soil  nor  the  hostility  of  conquering 
people,  but  by  the  mediocrity  of  their  politicians.” 

Argiiedas’  view  is  that  “The  great  problem,  almost  the 
only  one,  is  to  nullify  these  three  elements  which  fatally 
cooperate  to  oppose  the  development  of  the  country: 
(i)  the  excessive  immorality  and  lack  of  training  of  the 
government  class;  (2)  the  thorough  corruption  of  the 
classes  governed;  and  (3)  the  nullity  of  the  indigenous, 
the  numerically  preponderant,  group.” 

Manuel  Ugarte  says:  “What  first  strikes  one  in  the  New 
World  is  the  contradiction  between  the  loftiness  of  the* 
constitutions  and  the  baseness  of  the  political  life.  The 
right  to  vote,  which  is  the  foundation  of  our  social  con- 
tract, proves  almost  always  a delusion,  because  governments 
or  parties  substitute  their  wishes  for  the  will  of  the  people 
by  means  of  fraud  or  revolution.  * * * X and  Z declaim 
in  resounding  periods  terminating  in  ‘liberty,’  ‘progress,’ 
or  ‘constitution,’  and  we  take  sides  with  one  or  the  other, 
for  no  apparent  reason,  as  we  choose  head  or  tail  in  a game 
of  chance.  * * * In  South  America  the  time  has  not  yet 
come  when  ambitions  are  supported  by  doctrines.  The  con- 
test is  brutal  and  open  among  those  who  want  to  occupy 
the  highest  post.  And  as  in  a proud  people,  among  whom 
the  greatest  insult  that  can  be  inflicted  on  a citizen  is  to  call 
him  ‘adulador,’  those  who  aspire  to  rise  are  many,  the  fact 
may  be  accounted  for  that  civil  war  has  been  until  recently 
a national  function.” 


IMMIGRATION 

There  are  many  Spanish  Americans  who  fear  immigra- 
tion, lest  they  be  robbed  of  their  Latin  spirit  and  culture. 


66 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


F.  Garcia  Godoy  comments  favorably  on  this  fear  expressed 
by  various  authors,  as  follows:  “The  fundamental  con- 
ception of  nationality  in  some  of  the  republics,  due  to  the 
direct  influence  of  the  ethnic  elements  that  make  up  the 
great  mass  of  immigrants,  is  so  penetrating  the  mass  that 
it  is  gradually  destroying  the  national  sentiment,  which  is 
the  only  thing  that  gives  personality  to  the  peoples  of  Span- 
ish civilization.” 

Others,  however,  believe  that  only  in  the  blending  of  the 
right  kind  of  new  blood  with  the  present  inhabitants,  will 
they  be  able  to  solve  their  problems.  What  should  this 
blood  be?  Many  argue  that  Latin  Europe  only  can  supply 
the  desired  elements.  Others  believe  that  the  Anglo-Saxon 
immigrant  would  bring  those  sterling  qualities  of  sternness, 
sacrifice,  determination,  thrift  and  honesty  which  are  the 
greatest  need  of  the  Latin  American.  As  Le  Bon  says: 
“That  which  the  struggle  with  nature  is  not  able  to  create, 
the  crossing  of  the  races  will  realize.  This  is  the  only  in- 
fallible means  that  we  possess  of  transforming  fundamen- 
tally the  character  of  a people.  For  only  inheritance  is 
powerful  enough  to  fight  against  inheritance.” 

Simon  Bolivar,  always  keen  in  his  appreciation  of  the 
difficulties  facing  the  newly  liberated  countries,  was  the 
first  to  insist  on  the  need  of  immigration.  He  said : 

“We  ought  to  induce  immigration  of  the  peoples  of 
North  America  and  Europe,  in  order  that  they  may  settle 
here  and  bring  us  their  arts  and  sciences.  These  advan- 
tages, namely,  an  independent  government,  free  schools 
and  intermarriage  with  Europeans  and  Anglo-Americans, 
will  totally  change  the  character  of  the  country,  and  will 
render  it  well-informed  and  prosperous.  * * * We  lack 
mechanics  and  agriculturists  and  it  is  these  that  the  country 
has  need  of  to  insure  advancement  and  progress.” 

Alberdi  says: 

“To  fuse  races,  to  transplant  living  civilization  by  means 
of  a current  of  immigration,  is  to  create  the  civilization  of 
new  peoples.  * * * Civilization,  like  light,  causes  the 
buds  to  burst  forth. 


PROBLEMS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 


67 


“Without  a large  population,  there  is  no  development  of 
culture;  there  is  no  considerable  progress;  all  is  mean  and 
small. — Every  European  who  comes  to  our  shores  brings 
us  more  civilization  in  his  habits  than  many  books  of  phil- 
osophy.— If  the  Argentine  is  a tyrant,  death  to  the  Argen- 
tine; if  the  foreigner  is  a liberator,  glory  to  the  foreigner; 
the  throne  goes  to  ideas,  not  to  persons.” 

Already  the  problem  of  assimilating  the  immigrant  is 
being  felt  in  countries  like  Argentina.  Unlike  most  Latin 
American  countries  her  population  is  made  up  almost  en- 
tirely of  European  stock.  About  half  of  the  pure  whites  in 
Latin  America  live  in  Argentina  and  Uruguay.  The  few 
Indians  that  remain  are  now  found  entirely  separated  from 
the  rest  of  the  population,  inhabiting  only  the  Chaco  in  the 
north  and  Patagonia  in  the  extreme  south.  Argentina  is 
doing  for  the  old  European  Latin  races  what  the  United 
States  has  done  for  the  old  European  Anglo-Teutonic  peo- 
ples. Ninety-two  per  cent,  of  the  foreigners  of  Argentina 
are  Latins,  Italians  and  Spaniards  predominating.  The 
melting  pot  boils  here  south  of  the  equator  with  as  much 
fervor  as  it  does  in  the  United  States.  In  1913,  225,000 
foreigners  entered  the  country.  There  are  a half  million 
Italians  in  Buenos  Aires  alone.  The  influence  on  the  Argen- 
tine language  and  culture  is  already  considerable.  Tempera- 
mentally the  Italian  influx  easily  relates  itself  to  its  Latin 
cousins. 

A much  more  serious  question  is  presented  in  the  Ger- 
man and  Japanese  immigration.  There  are  already  half  a 
million  Germans  in  southern  Brazil,  a large  colony  in 
southern  Chile,  and  some  25,000  connected  with  commercial 
enterprises  in  Argentina.  Their  influence  in  Central  Amer- 
ica before  the  World  War  was  seen  everywhere.  Not  only 
have  they  built  up  solid  communities,  which  represent  little 
Germanies,  transplanted  root  and  branch,  but  in  every  col- 
ony in  South  America  their  separate  schools  were  to  be 
found,  conducted  entirely  in  German  and  subsidized  directly 
by  the  Kaiser.  The  purpose  of  all  this  is  now  only  too 
plain.  While  their  political  aims  have  been  stayed  they 


68  PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 

still  plan  for  commercial  supremacy  and  look  to  Latin 
America  as  an  inviting  field  for  their  activities. 

When  Count  Okuma  was  asked  about  the  future  home 
of  the  surplus  population  of  Japan  he  replied:  “South  Amer- 
ica, especially  the  northern  part,  will  furnish  ample  room 
for  the  surplus  of  our  population.” 

The  recent  discussion  in  the  United  States  Senate  con- 
cerning Mexico’s  ceding  certain  privileges  in  Magdalena 
Bay  to  a Japanese  colony  suggests  this  problem  from  a dif- 
ferent angle.  One  finds  little  reference  to  the  Chinese  in 
the  discussion  of  immigration,  but,  traveling  through  these 
countries,  he  realizes  they  must  be  taken  into  account.  In 
Mexico  they  already  own  a considerable  number  of  the 
hotels,  several  banks,  farms,  and  the  most  modern  inter- 
urban  trolley.  In  Panama  the  Chinese  entirely  dominate 
commercial  life.  In  Cuba  they  not  only  do  the  washing, 
but  much  of  the  labor  in  the  sugar  districts.  In  Lima  they 
have  erected  a joss  house  in  the  very  shadow  of  the  cathe- 
dral. The  Chinaman,  of  course,  lives  by  himself  and  is 
far  from  understanding  the  political  conditions  of  these 
countries. 

Ross  estimates  that  unless  there  is  adverse  legislation 
South  America  may  easily  be  the  home  of  twenty  or  thirty 
million  Orientals  by  the  end  of  the  century.  He  further 
suggests  that  this  might  have  three  results : ( i ) Forestall 
immigration  from  Europe,  which  South  American  states- 
men are  counting  on  to  help  key  up  mestizo  unprogressive- 
ness  and  misgovemment.  (2)  Large  areas  of  South  Amer- 
ica might  cease  to  be  parts  of  Christendom,  if  some  of  those 
republics  become  as  dependent  on  Asiatic  power  as  Cuba 
is  on  the  United  States.  (3)  Seal  the  doom  of  the  Indian, 
who  could  make  no  effective  stand  against  the  hard-work- 
ing, close-fisted  Oriental. 

This  question  suggests  an  interesting  problem  that  might 
be  put  up  to  the  United  States  as  to  whether  we  would 
apply  the  Monroe  Doctrine  to  help  keeping  out  oriental  im- 
migrants. 

The  largest  problem  of  immigration,  that  is  assimilation, 
is  recognized  by  only  a few  leaders.  Ambassador  Nabuco, 
speaking  at  the  University  of  Chicago,  well  said : 


PROBLEMS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 


69 


“Take  one  common  point  in  our  destiny.  We  must  all 
be  immigration  countries.  But  in  order  to  be  able  to  oppose 
foreign  immigration  with  a national  spirit  capable  of  turn- 
ing it  quickly  into  patriotic  citizenship,  as  you  do,  the  assim- 
ilating power  of  the  Latin  organism  needs  everywhere  to 
be  much  increased.  Immigration  countries  must  have  the 
necessary  strength  to  assimilate  all  they  absorb.  Intercourse 
with  you  would  teach  the  other  American  countries  the 
secret  of  winning  over  the  immigrants  that  come  to  them 
and  of  attracting  them  in  larger  numbers.  That  would  be 
by  far  the  most  useful  knowledge  they  could  receive,  be- 
cause when  they  knew  and  succeeded  in  transforming  into 
true  citizens  their  immigrants,  the  great  national  problem 
would  be  solved  for  each  of  them.  To  understand  that 
they  must  all  be  immigration  countries  and  to  create  the 
proper  immigrant-habitat,  they  need  to  study  immigration 
in  your  laboratory.” 


SOCIAL  PROBLEMS 

The  extent  to  which  marriage  is  ignored  Ms  one  of  the 
most  noticeable  social  phenomena  of  Hispanic  America. 
The  Peruvian  statistician  Fuentes  states  that  51  per  cent, 
of  the  births  of  Lima  are  illegitimate  or  “natural,”  and 
adds  that  “a  shocking  proportion  of  the  people  avoid  mar- 
riage and  live  in  a complete  libertinage  which  increases  as 
one  descends  the  social  scale.”  In  Bolivia  28  per  cent,  of 
the  army  recruits  in  1910  were  born  out  of  wedlock.  In  all 
Chile  the  percentage  of  illegitimate  births  is  given  as  38  per 
cent.,  but  in  cities  it  runs  much  higher,  57  per  cent  in  Con- 
cepcion, for  example.  In  Paraguay  the  census  of  1910 
shows  6,038  legitimate  births  and  8,387  illegitimate;  that 
of  1913,  6,739  legitimate  and  9,638  illegitimate.  Ross  says: 

“Save  in  pietistic  circles,  continence  before  marriage  does 
not  seem  to  enter  into  the  masculine  ideal  of  the  South 
Americans.  Without  exception  the  physicians  and  educa- 
tors questioned  agreed  that  all  young  men  sow  their  wild 
oats.  Outside  of  Chile  it  is  hardly  a matter  of  blood,  for 
in  point  of  sensuality  the  Indians  of  Ecuador,  Peru  and 
Bolivia  do  not  seem  to  differ  in  endowment  from  the  Span- 


70 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


iards.  The  fact  that  sex  is  an  overmastering  concern  in 
males  from  puberty  on  may  be  attributable  in  part  to  cli- 
mate. There  is,  indeed,  very  unequivocal  evidence  that,  ir- 
respective of  altitude,  the  human  organism  in  the  tropics 
is  affected  in  ways  adverse  to  the  moral  standards  wrought 
out  in  the  lands  of  the  slanting  sun.  Then  one  must  allow 
for  the  factor  of  early  contamination.  Throughout  tropical 
South  America  the  mother  of  the  better  classes  does  not 
care  for  her  children  herself  but  turns  them  over  to  native 
nurses  and  servants,  so  that  the  obscenities  and  low  stan- 
dards of  the  ignorant  servile  element  are  emptied  into  the 
minds  of  even  the  children  of  the  ruling  caste.  Add  to  this 
the  easy  accessibility  of  the  chola  and  it  is  clear  why  in 
these  countries  it  is  well-nigh  impossible  to  keep  any  life 
current  free  from  pollution  from  below. 

“Another  reason  why  young  men  ‘think  and  talk  of  noth- 
ing but  women/  why  they  listen  with  polite  incredulity  to 
an  account  of  the  relations  between  the  sexes  in  the  United 
States  and  regard  our  moral  tone  as  pure  hypocrisy,  is  the 
bareness  of  life,  the  paucity  of  things  to  do.  With  us  ath- 
letic games,  sports,  camping,  scholarship,  public  discussion, 
political  reform,  social  work,  business  and  travel  compete 
with  the  sex  interest  and  aid  men  to  control  it.  If  life 
presented  more  interests  to  the  young  South  Americans, 
their  morals  would  be  better.  It  is  strange  that  such  a 
flank  attack  on  evil  does  not  seem  to  have  occurred  to  their 
spiritual  leaders.  From  the  pulpit  one  hears  perfervid 
denunciations  of  sensuality,  but  the  preacher  can  suggest 
no  remedy  but  the  conquest  of  the  sensual  man  by  the  spir- 
itual man,  while  virtue  is  presented  as  a sheer  dead  lift 
against  the  downward  pull  of  one’s  own  nature.  He  might 
well  take  a hint  from  the  Yankee  educators  in  Bolivia, 
who  keep  their  boarding-school  lads  straight  by  the  simple 
expedient  of  crowding  the  day  so  full  that  they  have  not 
time  for  naughty  thoughts.” 

With  regard  to  sex  education  and  vice  regulation  but 
little  has  been  done,  although  both  Brazil  and  Argentina 
have  taken  the  first  steps  in  this  direction.  Among  these 
have  been  efforts  to  suppress  the  publication  of  obscene  lit- 


PROBLEMS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 


71 


erature  and  its  transmission  through  the  mails.  Here  and 
there  medical  men  are  being  heard  and  are  appearing  in 
print  and  supporting  the  continent  life  as  consistent  with 
health  and  virility.  For  generations  the  youth  have  been 
instructed  to  the  contrary,  as  most  of  them  are  still.  The 
double  standard  of  morality  for  men  and  women  is  gen- 
erally accepted  by  both  sexes.  The  great  municipalities 
continue  to  put  their  faith  in  such  discredited  devices  as 
segregation,  police  licensing,  medical  inspection  and  other 
futile  measures  now  being  repudiated  and  abandoned  in 
North  America  and  in  Europe  as  both  unChristian  and  con- 
tributory to  the  harm  and  misery  they  are  designed  to 
remove. 

The  presence  of  many  foreign  women  of  ill-repute  in  the 
larger  ports,  in  some  inland  cities  of  the  east  coast  and 
in  others  north  of  Panama,  confirms  the  belief  in  the  uni- 
versality of  the  “white  slave”  traffic.  Efforts  to  mitigate 
this  form  of  commercialized  vice  are  reported  from  Buenos 
Aires,  where  the  National  Vigilance  Association,  of  Lon- 
don, maintains  a representative. 

As  this  is  being  written  there  has  arrived  in  the  United 
States  a deputation  of  medical  men  from  Chile  who  have 
come  to  study  modern  methods  of  venereal  disease  control. 
They  state  that  venereal  disease  enters  into  the  medical 
history  of  about  80  per  cent,  of  the  men  of  South  America, 
with  practically  nothing  being  done  so  far  for  its  treatment 
or  for  prevention  by  educational  methods.  Senor  Santiago 
de  Toro  H.  says:  “Chile  needs  the  educational  and  publicity 
methods  that  have  been  of  such  value  in  other  parts  of  the 
world,  and  I am  certain  that  we  shall  receive  assistance  from 
social  hygiene  agencies  in  this  work.” 

Alcoholism  is  one  of  the  most  pressing  social  problems 
in  Latin  America,  acutely  so  in  Chile  and  certain  other 
areas.  Its  ravages  are  worst  among  the  Indians  and  mes- 
tizos of  Mexico,  Peru  and  Chile  and  the  lower  classes  in 
all  the  countries.  There  is  a most  remarkable  temperance 
movement  now  gathering  headway,  however,  backed  by 
strong  local  organizations  in  Mexico,  Peru,  Chile,  Uruguay 
and  Argentina.  Impressed  by  the  “going  dry”  of  the 
United  States  and  Porto  Rico,  advanced  legislation  has 


72 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


been  passed  in  a number  of  countries  during  the  last  few 
months,  and  there  is  every  indication  that  sentiment  in 
favor  of  restriction  will  grow  rapidly. 

The  general  principles  of  the  preservation  of  public 
health,  outside  of  the  larger  centers,  are  largely  ignored. 
Open  sewers  abound,  if,  indeed,  sewers  exist  at  all.  Mar- 
kets are  held  in  open  places  without  shade,  food  being  laid 
out  upon  the  ground  for  sale  amid  swarms  of  flies.  City 
water  supplies  are  open  to  easy  contamination,  while  no 
effort  is  made  to  get  rid  of  mosquitoes,  flies  or  rats  until 
the  yellow  fever  or  bubonic  plague  has  made  its  actual  ap- 
pearance among  the  people.  Typhoid  and  smallpox  are 
prevalent  and  often  take  fearful  toll.  The  hookworm  dis- 
ease is  widespread  and  leprosy  spreads  its  poison  farther 
every  day.  In  many  cities  there  is  no  isolation  of  contagious 
diseases  and  little  attempt  made  to  prevent  tubercular  per- 
sons from  spreading  their  disease  throughout  the  commu- 
nity in  which  they  live. 

THE  ECONOMIC  PROBLEM 

The  outstanding  economic  fact  in  all  Latin  American 
countries  is  the  dependence  of  those  countries  on  financial 
help  from  the  outside.  In  the  very  first  days  after  their 
independence  they  began  to  borrow  capital  for  the  develop- 
ment of  their  natural  resources,  the  building  of  docks  and 
railroads,  the  exploitation  of  mines,  and,  above  all,  the 
financing  of  their  governments.  This  economic  dependence 
has  generally  had  two  effects,  internal  disorders  and  inter- 
national complications. 

Political  leaders  have  often  sold  the  remarkable  physical 
resources  of  their  countries  for  foreign  loans.  When  these 
funds  have  been  recklessly  spent  or  used  as  rewards  for 
partisan  support,  revolutionary  movements  are  able  to  force 
the  old  party  out.  The  reform  party  needs  money  to  carry 
out  their  reform  program  and  new  loans  are  made,  being 
disbursed  usually  in  the  payment  of  the  political  debts  in- 
curred during  the  party’s  struggle  for  the  upper  hand. 
Thus  foreign  loans  pile  up  until  the  country  is  practically 
owned  by  foreign  bankers  and  the  slightest  fluctuation  of 
political  sentiment  in  the  debtor  country  immediately  be- 


PROBLEMS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 


73 


comes  a matter  of  economic  as  well  as  political  interest  in 
the  country  that  has  bought  its  bonds.  Sometimes  these 
foreign  creditors  are  able  to  satisfy  their  claims,  as  did 
the  English  in  Peru,  by  means  of  a holding  company  (the 
Peruvian  Corporation),  which  takes  over  and  operates  the 
railways,  port  works  and  public  utilities.  In  other  instances, 
as  in  Santo  Domingo  and  Nicaragua,  the  result  of  default 
is  diplomatic  pressure  which  may  result  in  the  assumption 
by  the  creditor  nation  of  responsibility  for  the  integrity  of 
the  debtor. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  say  which  of  the  two  parties  in 
interest  is  most  to  blame  for  this  result.  The  descendants 
of  the  prodigal  Spaniards  seem  generally  willing  to  borrow 
wherever  there  is  a lender,  without  trying  to  cut  budgets 
or  wait  patiently  for  normal  returns.  A new  need  generally 
means  a new  loan.  As  payment  is  almost  certain  to  fall  on 
their  successors  in  office  they  feel  no  need  to  worry  about 
the  amortization  of  their  bonds.  On  the  other  hand,  for- 
eigners have  been  uniformly  willing  to  take  advantage  of 
such  extravagance,  and  gamble  on  getting  payment  in  part, 
at  least,  through  extraordinary  rates  of  interest.  Ex-Presi- 
dent  Wilson  says: 

“There  is  one  peculiarity  about  the  history  of  the  Latin 
American  states  of  which  I am  sure  they  are  keenly  aware. 
You  hear  of  ‘concessions’  to  foreign  capitalists  in  Latin 
America.  You  do  not  hear  of  concessions  granted  to  for- 
eign capitalists  in  the  United  States.  They  are  not  granted 
concessions.  They  are  invited  to  make  investments.  The 
work  is  ours,  though  they  are  welcome  to  invest  in  it.  We 
do  not  ask  them  to  supply  the  capital  and  do  the  work.  It 
is  an  invitation,  not  a privilege ; and  states  that  are  obliged, 
because  their  territory  does  not  lie  within  the  main  field 
of  modern  enterprises  and  action,  to  grant  concessions 
are  in  this  condition,  that  foreign  interests  are  apt  to  dom- 
inate their  domestic  affairs,  a condition  of  affairs  always 
dangerous  and  apt  to  become  intolerable.  * * * They 
have  had  harder  bargains  driven  with  them  in  the  matter 
of  loans  than  any  other  peoples  of  the  world.  Interest 
has  been  exacted  of  them  that  was  not  exacted  of  anybody 


74 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


else,  because  the  risk  was  said  to  be  greater,  and  thus  secur- 
ities were  taken  that  destroyed  the  risk — an  admirable  ar- 
rangement for  those  who  were  forcing  the  terms.  I rejoice 
in  nothing  so  much  as  in  the  prospect  that  they  will  now 
be  emancipated  from  these  conditions,  and  we  ought  to  be 
the  first  to  take  part  in  assisting  in  that  emancipation.” 

The  relation  of  the  actual  value  of  the  ordinary  foreign 
claim  to  the  amount  demanded  is  illustrated  by  the  follow- 
ing table  of  the  Venezuelan  claims  and  the  amounts  finally 
awarded  by  the  International  Commission  after  proper  in- 
vestigation : 

Table  of  Awards  and  Claims. 


(A  Bolivar  is  worth  about  20  cents  in  gold) 


By  citizen  of  Great  Britain  

Claims 
• 14,743,572 

Awards 

9,401,267 

ts 

“ Germany  

. 7,376,68s 

2,091,908 

U 

“ France  

. 17,888,512 

2,667,079 

a 

“ Spain  

5,307,626 

1,974,818 

a 

“ Belgium  

14,921,805 

10,898,643 

u 

“ Sweden  and  Norway... 

1,047,701 

174,359 

n 

“ The  Netherlands  

. 5,242,519 

544,3° 1 

a 

“ The  United  States 

. 81,410,952 

2,313,711 

u 

“ Mexico  

. 2,893,040 

2,577,328 

a 

“ Italy  

• 39,844,258 

5,785,962 

190,676,670 

38,429,376 

Honduras  may  be  taken  as  an  example  of  the  extremes 
to  which  this  dependence  upon  foreign  capital  may  lead  a 
nation.  One  of  the  first  loans  was  floated  in  Europe  in 
1866  for  a face  value  of  5 million  dollars.  The  bonds 
were  issued  at  60,  bore  ten  per  cent,  interest,  and  the  pro- 
ceeds were  supposed  to  be  used  in  the  building  of  a railroad. 
But  the  railroad  was  not  built.  The  whole  scheme  was 
publicly  denounced  in  the  British  parliament.  Not  over 
$250,000  of  the  original  5 million  ever  reached  Honduras. 
This  sort  of  thing  was  worked  so  often  on  a weak  people 
that  her  present  foreign  debt  is  somewhere  between  150  and 
200  million  dollars — no  one  knows  how  much,  as  several 
experts  have  said  that  it  is  impossible  entirely  to  untangle 
the  country’s  finances.  United  States  bankers  and  diplomats 


PROBLEMS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 


75 


have  recently  made  several  efforts  to  fund  this  debt  and  pay 
off  the  English  creditors.  A treaty  similar  to  the  arrange- 
ment in  force  with  Santo  Domingo  was  proposed  by  the 
United  States  in  1911,  but  it  was  rejected  by  Honduras, 
now  becoming  somewhat  wary  of  such  arrangements.  No 
one  believes  that  the  country  will  ever  pay,  or  should  pay, 
the  full  amount  of  its  foreign  debt.  It  is  practically  living 
on  its  trade  with  the  United  States,  even  to  the  extent  that 
United  States  currency  is  the  common  medium  of  exchange. 
The  immense  banana  business  developed  in  Honduras  in 
recent  years  by  the  United  Fruit  Company  has  given  the 
country  a new  start  financially.  This  company  owns  and 
operates  its  own  railroads,  port  works  and  plantations,  all 
of  which  are  new  assets  to  the  country.  Incidentally,  it 
hasn’t  been  bad  for  the  United  Fruit  Company,  which 
earned  $40  per  share  for  the  15  months  ending  December 
3L  1919- 

In  Mexico  the  actual  foreign  land  holdings  are  small  in 
financial  significance  compared  to  the  foreign  control  of 
what  has  recently  become  the  nation’s  most  important 
source  of  wealth — the  petroleum  industry.  According  to 
the  United  States  Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Com- 
merce, 97  per  cent,  of  the  oil  industry  is  controlled  by  for- 
eigners : 

“Of  the  total  investment  in  the  oil  industry  of  Mexico, 
97  per  cent,  is  held  by  foreigners.  In  the  petroleum  in- 
dustry of  the  United  States  but  4 per  cent,  of  the  total 
amount  invested  is  held  by  foreign  capital.  In  1918  there 
were  27  companies  in  Mexico  which  produced  oil  in  com- 
mercial quantities,  17  of  these  being  owned  by  Americans, 
5 by  Spanish-Mexican  capital,  3 by  Dutch,  and  2 by  British 
interests.  Of  the  total  of  63,828,326  barrels  produced  in 
Mexico  in  1918,  the  American  interests  produced  73  per 
cent.,  British  21  per  cent.,  Holland  4 per  cent,  and  Spanish- 
Mexican  2 per  cent.  In  1919,  however,  the  British  inter- 
ests materially  increased  their  production.  Only  American 
and  British  interests  shipped  oil  from  Mexico  during  1918, 
the  oil  exports  having  been  79  per  cent.  American  and  21 
per  cent.  British.” 


76 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


The  Doheny  companies,  which  have  led  in  the  endeavor 
to  direct  the  United  States  government’s  policy  toward 
Mexico  in  recent  years,  recently  added  to  their  600,000  acres 
another  600,000,  giving  this  group  alone  the  control  of  more 
than  a million  acres  of  valuable  land.  Senator  Albert  B. 
Fall,  in  constructing  his  argument  for  intervention  in  Mex- 
ico, said  in  his  recent  report  to  the  United  States  Senate 
that  the  total  value  of  Mexico’s  wealth  was  $2,434,000,000, 
of  which  $1,057,770,000  is  owned  by  Americans  and  $584,- 
000,000  by  other  foreigners.  Senator  Fall  himself  is  of  the 
opinion  that  these  are  minimum  figures,  and  that  the  total 
American  holdings  probably  amount  to  $1,500,000,000. 
Certainly  this  would  seem  to  furnish  some  justification 
for  the  adoption  by  Mexico  of  the  policy  of  “Mexico 
for  the  Mexicans,”  an  idea  which  has  proved  so  offensive  to 
a number  of  American  interests. 

The  immense  holdings  of  foreigners  in  Mexico,  secured 
largely  under  the  Diaz  government,  were  chiefly  responsible 
for  the  dissatisfaction  which  in  1910  caused  the  Mexican 
people  to  revolt.  According  to  data  furnished  by  the  Gen- 
eral Agrarian  Offices  to  the  Mexican  Ministry  of  Fomento, 
that  part  of  the  territory  of  Lower  California  in  the  hands 
of  foreigners  constitutes  about  two-thirds  of  that  territory, 
these  holdings  being  equal  in  extent  to  the  area  of  Cuba 
and  Porto  Rico  combined.  Many  of  these  grants  were  made 
to  companies  which  volunteered  to  make  the  surveys  them- 
selves and  lay  out  their  own  boundaries.  Traditional  en- 
gineering accuracy  suffered  to  such  an  extent  under  this 
arrangement  that  the  national  government  recently  re- 
quested authority  from  Congress  to  use  the  national  credit 
to  the  extent  of  50,000,000  pesos  in  an  effort  to  recover  a 
large  part  of  these  grants.  According  to  a report  in  a semi- 
official government  organ,  The  Mexican  Review: 

“From  data  obtained,  it  seems  that  something  similar  to 
what  came  to  pass  in  Lower  California  and  Chihuahua  also 
occurred  in  the  states  of  Sonora,  Sinaloa,  Tamaulipas,  Du- 
rango, Guerrero,  Tepic  Territory,  and  Vera  Cruz,  and  if 
the  work  of  the  boundary  surveying  companies  did  not 
flourish  in  the  central  states  it  was  only  because  that  part 


PROBLEMS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA  77 

of  the  republic  which  produces  grain  was  already  in  the 
hands  of  leading  national  landholders. 

“In  Quintana  Roo,  the  territory  of  which  is  thickly  cov- 
ered by  extensive  forests,  1,550,000  acres  of  land  were 
granted  to  a single  company,  and  a like  thing  happened 
in  Campeche,  Tabasco  and  Chiapas,  where  the  greatest 
extent  of  territory  is  deeded  to  a handful  of  companies, 
mostly  foreign,  notwithstanding  the  legal  prohibition  against 
foreigners  acquiring  immovable  estate  within  the  100  kilo- 
meters (65  miles)  which  constitutes  the  border  zone. 

“Through  concessions,  foreigners  have  become  possessed 
of  54,874,557  acres  of  land  within  the  National  Territory, 
or  approximately  an  area  equal  to  that  comprised  by  the 
following  European  countries  combined:  France,  Spain, 
Portugal  and  Switzerland. 

“The  following  are  the  grantees  of  the  Territory  of 
Lower  California:  Luis  Huller,  with  13,487,473  acres; 
Adolfo  Bulle,  with  1,755,660  acres;  Flores  Haile,  with 
3,741,138  acres;  Pablo  Macedo,  with  4,489,615  acres;  and 
Guillermo  Andrade,  with  893,750  acres. 

“In  Sonora:  Samuel  Wood,  565,920;  Sonora  Land  Co., 
3,505,308;  C.  W.  Campbell,  315,300;  W.  Hennings,  44,- 
393;  Camou  Bros.,  403,630;  Whiller  Land  Co.,  i,333>383>' 
Land  and  Cattle  Co.,  280,795. 

“In  Chihuahua:  Palomas  Concession  and  minor  grants, 
2,706,265  acres. 

“In  Coahuila:  Boertoni  Concession,  664,420;  B.  Wil- 
liams, 291,188;  Milmo  de  Helli,  1,040,198;  Milmo  de  Radzi- 
will,  373.065. 

“In  Tamaulipas : Scott  Concession,  875,000  acres,  and 
minor  extensions,  61,110  acres. 

“In  Chiapas:  Chiapas  Mex.,  Ltd.,  1,617,163;  Lopez  Bru, 
Marquis  of  Comillas,  356,053;  Bulnes,  311,825;  minor 
extensions,  407,980. 

“In  Quintana  Roo:  Faustino  Martinez  Concession,  1,748,- 
845- 

“In  Guerrero:  Anglo-Mexican  Land  Co.,  1,662,803;  J. 
Cardenas,  705,510. 

“In  Sinaloa:  Sinaloa  Land  Co.  and  minor  concessions, 
92,453- 


78 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


“In  Nayarit:  Luis  Gayou  and  minor  extensions,  338,215 
acres.” 

It  was  pointed  out  before  that  political  idealism,  con- 
stantly maintained  against  all  odds,  is  one  of  the  great 
assets  of  Latin  America.  It  is  very  clear,  however,  that 
the  realization  in  practice  of  this  ideal  of  self-government 
and  independent  sovereignty  is  dependent  upon  the  ability 
of  these  nations  to  become  economically  independent  by  a 
process  of  self-denial  and  the  assumption  of  the  responsibil- 
ity and  risk  of  developing  their  own  resources. 

EDUCATION 

Education  in  Latin  America  was  from  the  beginning 
under  the  control  of  the  Church,  which  has  carried  out  the 
medieval  practice  of  confining  it  to  the  few  who  were 
supposed  to  possess  superior  intellectual  ability  and  to  those 
of  wealth,  high  social  position  and  influence.  Since  these 
republics  secured  their  independence,  education  has  gen- 
erally been  brought  under  the  control  of  the  government. 

Higher  education  in  some  centers  is  well  developed,  but 
primary  education  has  not  received  the  attention  it  deserves, 
and  opportunities  for  even  primary  instruction  are  lacking 
to  the  great  majority  of  the  people.  “Popular  education 
has  progressed  slowly  in  most  parts  of  Latin  America  be- 
cause of  overwhelming  indigenous  populations,  precarious 
finances,  sparse  settlement,  troubled  administrations  and 
persistent  opposition  of  powerful  groups.”  The  prosperous 
and  ambitious  have  sought  and  gained  education  as  becom- 
ing and  necessary  to  their  position.  The  Indians  and  other 
poor,  as  elsewhere,  do  not  want  an  education  because  they 
do  not  see  the  use  of  it.  In  some  considerable  areas  it  might 
require  100  square  miles  to  assemble  enough  children  to 
justify  the  maintenance  of  a school.  Liberal  minded 
leaders  advocate  education  for  all,  but  selfish  taxpayers 
often  intervene.  The  upper  classes,  as  a class,  have  con- 
ceived their  interests  to  be  best  conserved  by  keeping  the 
peon  laborer  ignorant,  helpless  and  submissive.  The  priests 
have  also  resisted  teaching  by  the  state  and  have  not  pro- 


PROBLEMS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 


79 


vided  for  it  themselves  with  any  measure  of  universality. 
They  have  taught  the  common  people  the  doctrines  of  the 
Church  only,  apparently  sharing  with  the  wealthy  classes 
the  belief  that  no  good  can  come  from  education  of  the 
masses. 

Illiteracy,  therefore,  is  stifling  national  development  in 
practically  every  Latin  American  country,  the  percentages 
ranging  from  forty  to  eighty  per  cent.  In  Argentina  it  is 
said  that  forty  per  cent,  of  persons  six  years  of  age  and 
older  are  illiterate ; in  Bolivia  eighty  per  cent,  cannot  read ; 
in  Brazil  eighty  per  cent,  are  illiterate;  in  Chile  sixty-three 
per  cent. ; in  Colombia,  Venezuela  and  Peru  over  eighty 
per  cent. ; in  Uruguay  forty  per  cent,  of  persons  six  years 
of  age  and  older.  In  Mexico  about  seventy  per  cent,  are 
unable  to  read  or  write,  and  in  Costa  Rica  about  seventy- 
five  per  cent.  Of  course  it  must  be  understood  that  most 
of  these  figures,  while  taken  from  government  reports  for 
the  most  part,  are  only  approximate — as  the  Latin  would 
say,  “poco  mas  o menos.” 

Latin  America  had  one  in  twenty  of  its  population  in 
schools  in  1912,  while  Germany  had  one  in  six  and  Japan 
one  in  seven.  In  Colombia,  about  one  person  in  twenty-two 
is  attending  school.  In  Ecuador,  where  one  in  sixteen  is 
receiving  instruction,  the  800,000  Indians  who  form  about 
one-half  of  the  population  are  getting  practically  no  educa- 
tion at  all.  While  landowners  are  required  by  law  to  pro- 
vide a school  if  ten  or  more  families  are  employed  on  an 
estate,  the  law  is  generally  evaded.  In  the  large  Indian 
population  of  Peru,  also,  a mere  eighteen  per  cent,  of  the 
children  of  school  age  are  actually  under  any  sort  of  in- 
struction. Here  it  is  estimated  that  two-fifths  of  the  chil- 
dren live  in  districts  so  remote  that  the  state  cannot  reach 
them.  The  Bolivian  government  sends  out  traveling  teach- 
ers to  spend  a brief  time  in  each  village  of  the  more  remote 
sections,  but  only  one  in  forty  of  her  population  is  in 
school.  The  Central  American  group  has  three  per  cent, 
at  school,  Cuba  ten  per  cent.,  Porto  Rico  twenty  per  cent. 
Chile,  probably  more  aggressive  educationally  than  most  of 
the  Latin  American  countries,  out  of  a total  population  of 
3,459,95!  had  331,636  pupils  in  the  elementary  schools 


80 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


and  39,198  in  the  secondary  schools.  School  buildings  are 
crowded  and  many  children  are  turned  away  because  of 
lack  of  equipment.  Argentina  has  developed  her  schools 
along  more  democratic  lines  and  about  one-tenth  of  the 
population  is  in  the  elementary  schools. 

In  some  sections  the  Argentine  Government  is  extending 
education  by  the  provision  of  portable  school  buildings,  and 
in  that  republic  every  effort  is  being  made  to  increase  edu- 
cational facilities.  The  Uruguayan  system  in  efficiency 
and  outreach  is  second  in  no  respect  to  that  of  its  larger 
neighbor.  These  two  nations  are  said  to  expend  for  educa- 
tion a larger  proportion  of  their  national  revenues  than  any 
other  countries  in  the  world.  The  state  of  Sao  Paulo,  in 
Brazil,  ranks  easily  with  them,  leading  the  country,  which 
has  635,000  in  school  out  of  a population  of  twenty-four 
million.  Yet  the  municipality  of  New  York  alone  spends 
more  on  its  schools  than  do  all  the  governments  of  Latin 
America.  The  city  of  Detroit  spends  as  much  annually  on 
its  night  schools  and  playgrounds  as  the  republic  of  Haiti 
does  on  its  entire  educational  program. 

The  educational  system  installed  by  the  United  States 
and  turned  over  to  Cuba  in  1902  has  greatly  deteriorated. 
Dr.  Arturo  Montori  ( Cuba  Contemporanea,  Havana)  puts 
the  blame  upon  the  following  factors : 

(1)  Scanty  instruction  and  defective  education  of  lower 
classes. 

(2)  Deficient  collective  aptitude  for  economic  activity. 

(3)  Frequent  political  disturbances. 

(4)  The  evident  depression  of  patriotic  feeling  in  very 
considerable  portions  of  our  Republic  (Cuba). 

Illiteracy  (80  per  cent,  in  1902)  is  almost  eliminated  to- 
day; but  reading  and  writing  is  nearly  the  whole  achieve- 
ment (only  12  per  cent,  of  the  pupils  get  beyond  the  second 
grade ) . 

Four  common  defects  must  be  corrected  by  the  schools : 

(1)  Economic  improvidence — lack  of  thought  for  the  fu- 
ture; (2)  addiction  to  gambling  (excessive  in  lower  classes) ; 


PROBLEMS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 


81 


(3)  superstition  (among  women  especially);  (4)  gross 
language  (among  boys). 

Economic  education,  today  almost  lacking,  should  be 
given  in  special  schools.  The  upper  classes,  educated  in 
private  schools,  are  responsible  for  political  disturbances. 
Patriotism  is  weakening,  as  shown  by : 

(a)  Political  indifference  and  avoidance  of  public  life  by 
electorate. 

(b)  The  sale  (on  a great  scale)  of  land  and  large  indi- 
vidual enterprises  to  foreigners. 

(c)  The  demand  for  foreign  supervisors. 

The  rich  are  responsible  for  the  first  by  direct,  and  the 
two  last  by  indirect,  action.  Their  indifference  has  lowered 
political  standards.  The  remedy  lies  in  bettering  all  schools. 

In  1902  the  United  States  left  Cuba  this  centralized 
school  organization: 

The  Secretary  of  Public  Instruction,  the  Board  of  Super- 
intendents, the  Commissioner  of  Schools,  the  Board  of 
Education,  the  Masters. 

National  idiosyncrasies  rapidly  transformed  the  school 
system  into  a political  machine.  The  General  Superintend- 
ent’s powers  were  given  the  Secretary  of  Instruction 
(usually  a politician).  Provincial  superintendents  were 
administration  errand  boys,  not  technical  men. 

A generation,  itself  uneducated,  failed  to  understand  the 
significance  of  education  (either  for  the  individual  or  col- 
lectively). A politically  elected  commissioner  chose  teach- 
ers on  political,  not  educational,  grounds.  The  legal  one- 
year  appointments  (meant  to  eliminate  the  inefficient)  be- 
came a political  weapon.  Teachers  sought  appointments 
like  day  laborers.  Congress  (July  18,  1909)  passed  a law 
making  a teacher  permanent  after  two  years’  satisfactory 
teaching.  Political  appointees  were  forced  to  take  the  peda- 
gogical courses. 

With  the  organization  of  the  board  of  inspectors  began 
a disastrous  epoch  in  Cuban  pedagogical  schools.  Politics 
took  the  place  of  teaching.  Lecture  halls  were  closed, 


82 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


useless  books  bought,  while  necessary  material  was  not 
bought.  Examinations  for  masters  were  corrupt.  The 
Summer  Normal  School  was  suppressed.  Resultant  scan- 
dals led  to  establishment  of  normal  schools  (Act  of  Con- 
gress, 1915).  Simultaneously  school  salaries  were  in- 
creased, and  aspirants  for  school  inspector  were  required 
to  have  had  five  years’  teaching  experience. 

Adequate  buildings  are  lacking  almost  everywhere.  In 
Ecuador,  for  example,  all  the  schools  are  usually  in  rented 
buildings  originally  erected  for  other  purposes  and  not 
adapted  at  all  for  school  use.  In  Arequipa,  Peru,  seven- 
teen schools  are  in  rented  private  property.  Even  in  rich 
Argentina  many  schoolhouses  are  rented.  This  condition  is 
quite  general  throughout  Latin  America,  possibly  an  ex- 
treme case  being  Venezuela,  where  in  all  her  history  there 
has  never  been  a single  building  erected  for  school  purposes 
with  the  exception  of  the  government  military  academy. 

In  Paraguay  education  has  made  great  strides  compared 
to  conditions  in  1870,  when  there  were  less  than  1,000 
children  in  school  in  the  entire  republic.  By  1902  this 
had  increased  to  24,752  and  in  1910  to  52,200,  while  the 
1916  statistics  show  1,047  schools  manned  by  1,481  teach- 
ers and  having  80,142  pupils.  There  is  little  tendency 
among  the  people  to  give  their  children  more  than  the  bare 
requirements  necessary  to  class  them  as  “literate,”  as  is 
shown  by  the  figures  for  the  city  of  Asuncion,  where  out 
of  7,000  children  enrolled  in  the  city  schools  some  4,500 
are  in  the  first  grade  and  only  95  in  the  sixth. 

Teachers  in  Paraguay  are  very  poorly  paid  and  often 
are  not  much  above  their  pupils  in  education.  One  teacher 
replied  to  a parent  who  wished  his  boy  to  have  a knowledge 
of  decimals  with  the  question  as  to  how  long  the  parent 
thought  he  would  remain  a school  teacher  at  ten  dollars 
a month  if  he  knew  decimals  himself. 

Every  friend  of  Paraguay  will  sympathize  with  the  fol- 
lowing appeal  in  a book,  The  Pain  of  Paraguay,  by  a 
Spaniard  who  has  spent  many  years  in  the  country:  “It 
would  be  a fountain  of  incalculable  redemption,  here  above 
all  places,  to  send  into  the  country  a heroic  regiment  of  one 
hundred  teachers,  full  of  sympathy,  capable  of  gaining  the 


PROBLEMS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 


83 


love  of  the  children,  consecrated  to  the  task  of  sowing  in 
these  young  hearts  the  seed  of  sincerity  and  liberty  of  ideas. 
But  these  teachers,  are  they  in  Paraguay?  Are  they  in 
America?  Are  they  anywhere  in  this  great  vale  of  tears?” 

Bomfin  says : 

“To  proclaim  democracy  and  liberty  and  at  the  same 
time  maintain  and  defend  social  and  political  conditions  of 
the  era  of  absolutism,  is  more  than  senseless.  It  is  the  sad- 
dest conceivable  thing.  Republic,  democracy,  liberty  and 
ignorance — one  might  as  well  build  a house  on  the  sand 
dunes.  Human  evolution  means  the  progress  of  the  soul, 
the  cultivation  of  the  mind  to  understand,  the  cultivation  of 
the  heart  to  love. 

“The  greatness  and  extensiveness  of  our  misfortunes  is 
no  reason  for  us  to  fold  our  arms.  Let  us  make  a cam- 
paign against  our  ignorance.  There  is  no  other  way  to 
save  this  America  of  ours.  These  expedients  and  political 
wisdom  have  now  contributed  all  they  are  able  to  give. 
That  progress  which  some  count  by  tax  receipts,  others  by 
the  number  of  ships  and  others  in  the  extent  of  mines  being 
worked,  not  only  is  badly  defined,  it  is  false  and  illusory. 
Progress  must  be  made  by  society  in  its  totality;  and  this  is 
only  attained  by  the  education  and  culture  of  each  social 
element.  The  environment  is  not  bettered  without  bettering 
the  individual.  There  is  no  progress  for  him  who  is  un- 
able to  comprehend  and  desire  it,  insist  in  searching  for  it. 
Progress  is  a triumph — a growing  victory  over  nature,  and 
in  the  struggle  which  leads  to  it  the  first  essential  is  to  free 
oneself  of  ignorance,  of  preconceptions  and  the  discourage- 
ment which  is  to  be  found  within  them,  to  know  the  enemy, 
to  conquer  him,  to  know  the  obstacles,  to  overcome  them, 
to  know  the  resources  which  can  serve,  to  know  the  reach  of 
each  effort,  to  know,  to  know,  to  know — more  and  more.” 

The  educational  systems  of  Latin  America  have  been 
constructed,  like  their  political  systems,  on  a highly  ideal- 
istic basis.  There  is  absolutely  no  question  of  the  desire 
of  the  leaders  to  minister  to  the  educational  needs  of  their 
people.  The  noticeable  defect  is  on  the  practical  side,  in  its 


84 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


bearing  on  actual  needs  and  local  conditions.  In  the  matter 
of  education,  we  have  an  exhibition  of  what  Prof.  Ernesto 
Nelson  of  Argentina  calls  “insistence  on  logic  and  sym- 
metry.” If  it  is  decided  that  a national  college  should  be 
put  into  the  provincial  capitals,  one  is  placed  in  an  insig- 
nificant town  where  only  fifty  students  are  to  be  had,  while 
some  large  city  which  does  not  happen  to  be  a provincial 
capital  is  left  entirely  unprovided  for.  The  symmetry  of 
the  plan  could  not  be  spoiled  for  the  sake  of  the  needy  city, 
nor  would  logical  consistency  permit  the  most  remote  rural 
capital  to  be  deprived  of  its  colegio. 

The  educational  institutions  are  often  built  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  convenience  of  the  faculty,  the  gratifying 
of  public  pride,  conformity  to  a city  architectural  scheme, 
rather  than  to  conform  to  the  needs  or  convenience  of  the 
pupils.  Many  institutions  are  built  simply  because  of  mod- 
els seen  in  other  countries  which  have  impressed  the  imag- 
ination, to  the  ignoring  of  practical  adaptability  of  such  an 
institution  to  local  conditions.  Prof.  Nelson  tells  of  return- 
ing to  Argentina  from  the  United  States  and  telling  of  fine 
children’s  libraries  there.  Immediately  the  Argentines  said 
they  would  have  them  too.  They  would  put  up  suitable 
buildings  immediately.  “But,”  the  professor  replied,  “the 
first  thing  for  the  library  is  to  have  the  children’s  books.” 
They  replied,  “We  have  these.”  “No,”  cautioned  the  pro- 
fessor, “the  books  we  have  for  children  represent  adult 
thoughts  expressed  in  children’s  language.  We  must  study 
the  children  themselves  and  write  books  that  are  really  chil- 
dren’s books ; then  we  will  be  ready  to  build  libraries  for 
them.”  This  kind  of  reasoning,  however,  was  very  diffi- 
cult for  the  Argentines  to  understand. 

Dr.  Villaran  of  Peru  says: 

“We  still  maintain  the  same  ornamental  and  literary  edu- 
cation which  the  Spanish  governors  implanted  in  South 
America  for  political  purposes,  instead  of  an  intellectual 
training  capable  of  advancing  material  well-being;  an  edu- 
cation which  gives  brilliancy  to  cultivated  minds  but  does 
not  produce  practical  intelligence ; which  can  amuse  the 
leisure  hours  of  the  rich  but  does  not  teach  the  poor  how 


PROBLEMS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 


85 


to  work.  We  are  a people  possessed  by  the  same  mania  for 
speaking  and  writing  as  old  and  decadent  nations.  We  look 
with  horror  upon  active  professions  which  demand  energy 
and  the  spirit  of  strife.  Few  of  us  are  willing  to  endure 
the  hardships  of  mining  or  incur  the  risks  and  cares  of 
manufacture  and  trade.  Instead  we  like  the  tranquillity  and 
security,  the  semi-repose  of  public  office  and  the  literary 
professions  to  which  the  public  opinion  of  our  society  urges 
us.  Fathers  of  families  like  to  see  their  sons  advocates, 
doctors,  office  holders,  literati  and  professors.  Peru  is 
much  like  China — the  promised  land  of  functionaries  and 
literati.” 

There  is  no  place  on  earth  where  one  faces  more  difficult 
questions  of  curricula,  discipline  and  administration.  The 
state  education  system  resembles  the  French  more  than  the 
North  American,  both  in  its  courses  and  in  its  fundamental 
organization.  There  is  no  college  in  the  North  American 
sense.  From  the  sixth  grade,  on  the  average,  though  each 
country  differs,  the  pupil  goes  into  the  liceo  or  colegio  civil, 
which  is  something  like  our  low  grade  academy.  Most  of 
the  work  given  in  our  colleges  is  taught  in  the  first  years 
of  the  professional  schools  in  Latin  America,  which,  in- 
stead of  having  three  to  five  years,  generally  offer  a course 
extending  through  seven  years.  The  question  of  how  better 
to  bridge  the  gap  between  the  liceo  and  the  professional 
school  is  now  giving  much  concern  to  educators.  Another 
problem  is  the  one  of  choice  between  two  radically  different 
theories  of  education  or  of  making  a happy  combination  of 
the  two. 

North  Americans  are  accustomed  to  a system  which  is 
designed  to  develop  the  freedom  of  the  individual  student, 
who  is  allowed  to  select  his  own  courses  very  largely  and 
choose  his  own  way  of  mastering  the  required  material,  the 
theory  being  that  liberty  is  so  precious  that  it  is  worth  while 
to  risk  failure  or  ill-proportioned  development  in  order  that 
each  personality  may  develop  along  the  line  of  its  own  na- 
ture. But  in  countries  where  the  Jesuits  have  directed  educa- 
tion for  centuries  and  have  stamped  their  theories  and  meth- 
ods so  thoroughly  upon  the  thinking  of  the  people,  as  has 


86 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


been  the  case  in  Latin  America,  the  theory  of  rigid  discipline 
rather  than  liberty  prevails.  Emphasis  is  put  upon  memory 
and  tradition.  It  means  a centralized  system  of  schools 
conforming  to  the  narrow,  authorized  curriculum  for  the 
masses,  and  specialized  schools  for  the  privileged  classes. 
This  results  in  culture  of  a kind  and  a wide  range  of  facts, 
but  a lamentable  lack  of  initiative,  self-reliance  and  original 
thinking. 

THE  MORAL  PROBLEM 

A greatly  increasing  number  of  Latin  Americans  are 
coming  to  the  conclusion  that  the  greatest  of  all  their  prob- 
lems are  the  moral  and  spiritual  ones.  Alfredo  Colmo  says : 
“These  are  the  defects  which  I will  show  are  found  in  the 
morality  of  individual  Argentines : lack  of  initiative,  lack 
of  punctuality,  a continual  looking  for  ‘the  turn’ — that  is, 
how  to  evade  contracts  and  agreements — and  dodging  all 
that  places  upon  one  an  obligation  and  a duty.” 

He  continues: 

“I  will  content  myself  with  putting  down  two  sins  which 
seem  to  be  of  decisive  importance.  The  first  is  the  habit 
of  lying.  This  is  so  general  and  so  intensified  that  it  seems 
to  be  a subconscious  predisposition,  so  that  there  is  nothing 
about  which  one  does  not  lie.  * * * 

“The  second  thing  is  more  general.  It  is  a lack  of  real 
men.  I mean  men  who  have  sentiment,  will,  morality, 
character,  all  that  makes  the  individual  a force,  an  efficient 
driver  with  energy,  honesty  and  a superiority  of  aims. 

“The  work  of  developing  honesty,  of  making  it  a religion 
of  the  masses  and  consolidating  it  with  the  work  of  form- 
ing men,  is  the  great,  I might  say  the  one,  national  prob- 
lem. All  the  rest  of  our  problems  are  simply  a consequence 
of  this  one.” 

Agustin  Alvarez  says : 

“Sarmiento  said  that  the  evil  which  affects  the  Argen- 
tine Republic  is  its  extension.  Very  well,  the  republicans 
have  suppressed  the  extension  and  unified  the  country.  Now 
the  evil  which  affects  Argentina  is  the  lie.  And  it  is  nec- 
essary that  she  work  without  rest  until  she  succeeds  in 


PROBLEMS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 


87 


emancipating  herself  from  this  detestable  South  American 
institution,  which  is  three-fourths  Indian  and  four-fourths 
barbarian.” 

To  quote  Dr.  Jose  M.  de  la  Rua: 

“The  Latin  is  generally  selfish  and  individualistic.  He 
does  not  wish  to  form  part  of  any  society  or  organization 
in  which  he  does  not  see  some  benefit  or  practical  advantage 
more  or  less  immediate  for  himself.  He  does  not  know  or 
understand  what  it  is  to  work  for  others,  hence  that  class 
of  association  which  asks  his  money,  work  or  time  without 
visible  and  practical  returns  to  himself  does  not  ordinarily 
get  either  his  interest  or  his  participation.  Another  defect 
of  the  majority  of  Latins  is  the  lack  of  constancy.  They 
are  easily  made  enthusiastic  over  a good  idea  or  a noble 
purpose,  but  soon  lose  their  enthusiasm  and  fall  into  in- 
difference and  apathy.” 

The  following  from  a well-known  Uruguayan  author 
makes  the  essential  connection  between  problems  of  morality 
and  problems  of  religion  which  has  too  long  failed  of  rec- 
ognition in  Latin  America : 

“If  we  doubt  the  advantages  of  Christianity  for  Latin 
America,  a journey  to  the  United  States  will  do  away  with 
that  doubt.  The  North  American,  though  very  independent, 
is  yet  most  obedient  to  the  essential  principles  of  the  social 
life.  From  the  President  to  the  most  humble  citizen,  all 
recognize  the  power  of  the  religious  idea  in  the  formation 
and  stability  of  a people.  An  attentive  analysis  of  Latin 
American  society  produces  the  most  disagreeable  impres- 
sion. In  the  moral  and  spiritual  worlds  everything  remains 
to  be  done.  We  are  distinguished  for  mental  vivacity.  We 
excel  in  linguistics  and  the  power  of  assimilation.  The 
upper  classes  give  an  example  of  singular  versatility  in  all 
lines  of  knowledge  and  occupation.  But  this  is  not  sufficient 
in  a directing  aristocracy,  which  thinks  that  there  does  not 
exist  any  authority  except  that  of  science  and  reason. 

“The  Christian  culture  will  always  be  necessary  because 


88  PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 

great  thoughts  come  from  the  heart.  But  the  majority  of 
our  notable  men  are  free  thinkers.  There  exists  an  abso- 
lute indifference  to  religion.  This  is  true  even  among  the 
young  people,  at  the  age  most  propitious  for  inculcating 
the  ideals  of  life. 

“The  Latin  American  child  is  brighter  and  more  pre- 
cocious than  his  northern  brother,  but  in  the  long  run  the 
robust  virtues  of  self-domination,  of  sacrifice,  of  patience 
and  will,  conquer.  Character  asks  only  one  aid — good  cus- 
toms to  oppose  sensuality.” 

An  article  in  El  Sur,  of  Arequipa,  Peru,  in  November 
of  1914,  headed  “Ruin,”  states: 

“That  which  cannot  be  cured  and  which  foreshadows 
death  is  moral  failure.  And  this  is  the  evil  of  this  coun- 
try. * * * We  breathe  a fetid  atmosphere  and  are  not 
sickened.  The  life  of  the  country  is  poisoned,  and  the 
country  needs  a life  purification.  In  the  state  in  which  we 
are,  the  passing  of  the  years  does  not  change  men,  it  only 
accentuates  the  evil.  A purging  and  a struggle  are  abso- 
lutely necessary.” 

The  Vice-Rector  of  La  Plata  University,  Argentina,  in 
his  opening  address  of  the  college  year,  called  upon  the  uni- 
versity to  recognize  its  obligation  to  develop  character  in 
the  young  men  who  pass  through  its  halls : 

“It  is  with  great  sadness  that  I witness  the  steady  decrease 
in  the  number  of  unselfish,  idealistic,  genuine  men;  how 
engulfing  the  tide  of  selfishness,  of  rebellion,  of  indiscipline 
and  of  unsalable  ambition;  impunity  so  often  supplants 
justice  that  I fear  for  the  spiritual  future  of  the  land  of 
my  children,  unless  we  make  haste  to  remedy  the  great  evil, 
which  is  disregard  for  the  noble,  and  the  great  and  unmeas- 
ured lust  for  material  riches.” 

THE  RELIGIOUS  PROBLEM 

Whatever  else  visitors  to  Hispanic  America  may  notice, 
they  are  practically  unanimous  in  their  observance  of  the 


PROBLEMS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 


89 


lack  of  religion  in  those  countries.  In  former  times  this 
indifference  or  hostility  to  Christianity  was  noted  only 
among  the  men  of  the  more  cultured  classes;  now  it  is 
spreading  to  the  educated  women  and  in  a large  degree 
to  the  workingmen  in  the  cities.  As  Prof.  G.  H.  Blakeslee 
says : “However  the  religious  question  is  to  be  settled,  it  re- 
mains today  the  greatest  problem  of  South  America.  Until 
it  is  solved  every  South  American  republic  is  likely  to  wit- 
ness from  time  to  time  such  scenes  as  those  recently  enacted 
in  Chile,  where  crowds  of  its  best  educated  young  men 
marched  night  after  night  through  the  streets  of  its  capital 
city  deriding,  mocking  and  insulting  the  Church  to  which 
the  nation  belongs.” 

The  demonstration  to  which  reference  is  here  made  is 
that  in  Santiago  and  Valparaiso  where  the  university  stu- 
dents went  on  strike  against  the  activities  of  the  Papal 
Nuncio.  For  almost  a week  they  kept  those  cities  in  a 
ferment,  completely  disorganizing  university  arrangements 
by  their  refusal  to  attend  classes  and  by  other  acts  of  pro- 
test. The  object  of  the  agitation  was  to  bring  pressure  on 
the  government  to  send  the  Pope’s  representative  out  of  the 
country.  Joining  with  the  students,  a crowd  of  citizens 
estimated  as  high  as  50,000  gathered  in  Santiago  and 
petitioned  the  President  of  Chile  for  the  deportation  of 
the  Nuncio.  Each  night  during  this  somewhat  hectic 
week  witnessed  parades  of  protest  or  mock  processions  and 
ceremonials  ridiculing  religious  rites.  This  extension  of 
the  people’s  enmity  from  the  person  of  the  Nuncio  to  the 
Church  itself  was  easily  accomplished  in  the  tense  state  of 
public  feeling.  In  one  of  these  mock  processions  two  large 
figures  were  carried  by  the  marchers  representing  in  no 
flattering  way  a monk  and  a nun.  Other  processions  were 
made  up  of  students  robed  as  priests,  carrying  swinging 
censers  and  followed  by  a crowd  of  young  men  dressed  as 
penitents,  with  lighted  tapers  in  their  hands.  So  realistic 
was  this  latter  feature  that  one  observer  reports  seeing  old 
women  kneeling  to  them  in  the  streets,  unaware  of  the  real 
character  of  the  marchers.  Banners  and  transparencies 
attacking  the  Papal  representative,  the  local  hierarchy  and 
the  Church  itself  were  carried  in  most  of  these  processions. 


90 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


The  public  clamor  over  the  matter  reached  into  the  Chil- 
ean Congress,  where  it  was  the  subject  of  lively  debate. 
Strange  to  say,  one  of  the  impelling  causes  of  this  outbreak 
lay  in  the  economic  strain  under  which  the  South  Amer- 
ican countries  have  labored  since  the  close  of  the  war,  the 
specific  charge  against  the  Nuncio  being  that  he  was  send- 
ing money  realized  from  the  sale  of  Church  property  out 
of  the  country.  Radicals  in  Chile  claim  that  within  the 
last  five  years  Church  officials  in  Chile  have  sent  to  Rome 
more  than  a million  and  a quarter  dollars  in  anticipation  of 
the  possible  separation  of  Church  and  State  in  that  coun- 
try. This  particular  charge  has  precipitated  a general  scru- 
tiny of  the  wealth  of  the  established  Church.  In  Santiago 
alone  its  property  is  valued  at  more  than  ioo  million  dol- 
lars and  there  are  some  who  claim  that  the  income  of  the 
Church  in  Chile  is  greater  than  that  of  the  government  itself. 

While  this  outbreak  came  with  considerable  suddenness 
out  of  an  atmosphere  of  almost  complete  subservience  to 
ecclesiastical  authority,  it  had  long  been  brewing.  For 
years  there  has  been  a latent  hostility  to  the  Church  and 
the  clergy  in  the  minds  of  educated  men  in  Chile,  although 
it  has  always  been  politically  and  socially  expedient  to  con- 
ceal this  animosity  as  much  as  possible.  With  this  recent 
agitation  it  has  broken  out  into  the  open. 

If  visitors  to  Hispanic  American  countries  speak  often 
of  the  lack  of  religion  in  those  lands,  their  own  writers 
almost  universally  condemn  the  established  Church.  Among 
the  numerous  references  of  Garcia  Calderon  to  the  subject 
the  following  may  be  cited  from  his  book,  “The  Creation 
of  a Continent” : 

“We  do  not  find  in  Latin  America  either  an  elegant  skep- 
ticism, a puritan  religion,  or  even  a mysticism  like  the  Span- 
ish. Her  Catholicism  is  a limited  and  official  religion.  We 
are  witnessing  the  decadence  of  traditional  religion.  The 
Church  is  being  converted  into  a bureaucratic  institution. 
Its  convents  attract  only  those  of  the  inferior  classes.  The 
robustness  of  creative  convictions,  which  is  the  strength  of 
the  Biblical  men  of  North  America,  the  deep  interest  in 
human  destiny,  the  stern  sense  of  duty,  the  realization  of 


PROBLEMS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 


91 


the  seriousness  of  life,  do  not  disturb  Latin  American  Cath- 
olicism, sensual  and  lymphatic.  * * * 

“In  the  political  and  economic  order  our  religious  in- 
difference is  the  cause  of  indecision  in  opinions,  of  hatred 
of  ideas,  and  of  immorality.  * * * These  different  re- 
publics lack  a creed.  Their  ancient  life  was  linked  to  a 
severe  religion.  The  abandonment  of  Catholicism  in  democ- 
racies without  moral  culture  means  retrogression  to  bar- 
barism. * * * In  the  United  States  puritanism  is  the 
perpetual  defense  against  the  plutocratic  immorality.  In 
the  Latin  South  only  a renovated  and  profound  faith  can 
give  to  accumulated  riches  a national  sentiment.  An  Amer- 
ican servant  of  Caliban,  without  clear  ideals,  coldly  atheistic 
because  of  mental  laziness  or  indifference,  would  be  an  im- 
mense mediocre  continent  that  could  submerge,  as  did  At- 
lantis, without  leaving  in  human  annals  the  memory  of  a 
secret  unrest,  a hymn  to  the  gods,  or  even  a passionate 
skepticism  and  tragic  doubt.” 

In  an  interesting  book,  “The  Plow,  the  Pen  and  the 
Sword,”  Senor  Huerta,  of  Paraguay,  in  discussing  national 
problems,  has  this  to  say: 

“How  distinct  has  been  the  role  of  religion  in  Spanish 
America  from  that  it  has  played  in  North  America!  Since 
the  time  of  the  conquest,  when  the  priests  were  in  such  a 
hurry  to  administer  the  sacrament  of  baptism  to  the  Indians, 
until  the  present,  religion  has  not  exercised  the  amplitude  of 
its  noble  mission  outside  of  the  Church  building  and  the 
congregation. 

“Mixing  in  politics  has  brought  about  many  evils  in  the 
Republic,  which  has  had  to  suffer  the  acts  and  propaganda 
of  the  clericals  whose  fruit  has  been  nothing  more  than  the 
discrediting  of  worship  and  the  skepticism  of  the  masses, 
with  grave  injury  to  the  young  society  and  its  government. 
It  would  be  easy  to  cite  many  honorable  and  patriotic  ac- 
tions of  the  Catholic  Church  and  its  many  educational  activ- 
ities, but  as  a moral  entity  it  has  not  been  able  to  escape 
the  materialistic  spirit  of  government  with  which  it  has  been 
so  closely  associated. 


92 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


“In  Ecuador  or  Colombia  it  is  impossible  to  know 
whether  the  government  is  served  by  the  clergy  or  the  clergy 
is  a model  for  the  government.  The  religious  influence  has 
not  the  merit  of  aiding  the  development  of  these  countries, 
pacifying  the  ardor  of  the  political  parties,  but  has  the  effect 
of  exciting  them  with  intolerance  and  exclusiveness.  If,  as 
is  the  case  in  the  United  States  and  as  the  psychologists 
believe,  religion  is  a powerful  force  for  the  transformation 
of  human  groups  into  nationality,  religion  is  destined  to 
play  a great  part  in  the  Spanish  American  republics.” 

That  the  student  class  is  leading  the  attack  on  the  Church 
signifies  that  it  is  in  the  college  and  university  centers  of 
South  America  that  religious  indifference  is  most  marked 
and  sentiment  toward  the  Church  most  hostile.  For  the 
benefit  of  North  Americans  who  may  be  inclined  to  dismiss 
the  whole  matter  as  a mere  student  agitation,  it  must  be 
pointed  out  that  in  Latin  America,  as  in  continental  Europe, 
the  university  students  are  an  important  political  factor  and 
nearly  always  form  the  backbone  of  progressive  movements 
and  are  active  politically.  The  students,  too,  have  been  di- 
rected to  some  extent  by  political  leaders  who  preferred 
to  remain  in  the  background  and  not  openly  appear  as  lead- 
ers in  an  attack  upon  the  clergy. 

A great  religious  reform  is  greatly  needed  in  South 
America.  Some  of  her  keenest  critics — several  of  them 
among  her  own  sons — believe  that  lack  of  a strongly  devel- 
oped moral  sense  is  the  main  thing  that  stands  between 
the  South  American  and  a great  future  of  world  leadership 
and  world  service.  This  vital  lack  shows  itself  not  only 
in  the  realm  of  religion,  but  in  the  attitude  of  the  people 
toward  their  work,  in  their  political  life,  and  in  their  social 
relationships,  particularly  in  the  relations  between  the 
sexes.  A spiritualized  Church  should  surely  do  something 
to  bring  to  these  peoples  a stronger  sense  of  duty  and  right 
and  a greater  stimulus  toward  allowing  this  sense  to  govern 
their  lives. 

It  remains,  then,  for  these  southern  nations  to  discover 
a religion  that  is  compatible  with  true  democracy  and  mod- 
ern scientific  knowledge,  which  will  at  the  same  time  build 


PROBLEMS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 


93 


up  personal  and  national  character  and  furnish  those  spirit- 
ual ideals  without  which  no  permanent  cultural  edifice  can 
be  built.  What  form  shall  this  religion  take?  Many  be- 
lieve with  Garcia  Calderon  that  it  must  be  a reformed  Ca- 
tholicism. He  says: 

“Protestantism  is  not,  however,  the  religion  suited  to 
these  democracies,  submitted  to  a three-century  Catholic 
discipline.  The  race  has  lost  its  ancient  individualism 
which  inclines  toward  Protestantism,  and  austere  Calvinism 
or  Puritanism  is  out  of  the  realm  of  tropical  imagination 
and  Castilian  sensuality.  The  religious  renaissance  can  only 
be  realized  within  Catholicism,  a traditional  religion,  mother 
of  ideas  and  customs,  a powerful  force  that  cannot  be 
escaped  by  either  the  servile  Indian  or  the  Spanish  hidalgo.” 

On  the  other  hand,  there  are  not  lacking  other  great 
Latin  Americans  who  believe  that  the  simple,  democratic 
Evangelical  Christianity  is  the  greatest  need  of  the  south. 
Agustin  Alvarez  says: 

“Thus  liberal  Protestantism,  leaving  to  man  his  best 
aptitude  and  amplitude  for  lay  progress,  has  formed  the 
colonizing  races  which,  by  their  greater  resources  dominat- 
ing nature  and  exploiting  the  soil,  have  enriched  and  ex- 
tended themselves  to  all  continents.  In  the  same  way  Ca- 
tholicism, repudiating  profane  science,  and  captured  by  atten- 
tion to  public  worship,  has  separated  the  best  energies  of 
man,  has  withdrawn  him  from  improved  methods  of  agri- 
culture, commerce  and  industry,  from  personal  cleanliness 
and  public  sanitation,  from  earthly  justice  and  civil  mo- 
rality. 

“The  mother  country  did  us  greater  harm  by  prohibiting 
in  America  the  cultivation  of  ideas  and  the  sentiments  of 
tolerance  than  it  did  by  prohibiting  the  cultivation  of  the 
vine  and  the  olive.  If  the  primary  cause  of  the  progress  of 
man  is  the  thought  which  modifies  his  sentiments  and  forms 
his  character,  a man  limits  his  progress  to  the  degree  to 
which  he  limits  his  thought.  So  the  fundamental  cause  of 
the  backwardness  of  Spanish  America,  and  of  Spain  itself, 
is  the  restriction  of  thought  by  an  absurd  religion. 

“Thus  narrow  and  superstitious  Catholicism,  the  open 


94  PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 

enemy  of  science  and  the  advocate  of  lay  ignorance,  develops 
a spirit  incapable  of  self-government  because  it  is  educated 
in  dogmatic  intolerance  and  spiritual  slavery,  which  are  the 
spiritual  father  and  mother  of  this  Spanish  perverseness 
which  we  knew  in  1810  and  the  Cubans  knew  in  1900.  In 
the  same  way  liberal  Protestantism  develops  those  spirits 
with  self-rule,  tolerant  in  action  because  they  are  educated 
to  be  tolerant  in  thought.” 

Alberdi,  one  of  the  greatest  thinkers  Argentina  ever  pro- 
duced, was  firm  in  his  conviction  that  Protestantism  is  the 
religion  for  republics.  Juarez,  the  greatest  of  Mexicans, 
said  that  upon  the  development  of  Protestantism  in  Mexico 
largely  depended  the  future  of  his  country.  President 
Alessandri,  of  Chile,  recently  said,  on  the  occasion  of  being 
presented  with  a Bible  by  evangelical  workers  in  that 
country : 

“I  am  a Christian.  I believe  in  the  doctrines  of  Christ. 
I accept  the  sound  doctrines  of  the  Bible  and  reject  errors 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  I raise  the  white  flag  to 
all  truth.  This  book  of  yours  which  you  present  will  remain 
by  my  side.  It  will  be  my  guide  and  I shall  know  how  to 
appreciate  it  at  its  true  worth.  If  Congress  confirms  my 
election,  when  I come  into  the  capitol  I will  work  incessantly 
for  complete  and  absolute  liberty  of  conscience.  I know  of 
the  cultural  and  moral  work  that  you,  the  evangelicals,  are 
doing  in  all  the  republics  and  I hold  it  in  the  highest  esteem. 
If  I enter  the  nation’s  capital  the  doors  will  always  be  open 
to  help  every  good  work  which  you  do  and  you  will  always 
occupy  a place  in  my  heart.” 

The  presidents  of  Guatemala,  Ecuador,  Bolivia,  Mexico 
and  Argentina  have  officially  invited  North  American  evan- 
gelical missionaries  to  their  countries.  Evangelical  schools 
are  often  patronized  by  the  leading  citizens  of  the  commu- 
nity and  government  subsidies  are  frequently  offered  them. 

There  now  exist  many  self-supporting  evangelical 
churches,  entirely  directed  by  nationals  who  are  recognized 
as  strong  forces  in  their  communities.  In  Rio  de  Janeiro 
one  such  church  counts  among  its  thousand  members  prom- 
inent lawyers,  engineers  and  members  of  Congress,  raises 


PROBLEMS  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 


95 


an  annual  budget  of  $15,000  and  is  active  in  many  com- 
munity philanthropies.  The  number  of  evangelicals  who 
have  taken  prominent  part  in  the  Mexican  Revolution  and 
are  now  conspicuous  in  the  reconstruction  of  the  country, 
particularly  along  educational  lines,  is  very  large.  The 
paper  published  unitedly  by  the  evangelical  churches  in 
Porto  Rico  has  the  largest  circulation  of  any  periodical  on 
the  island.  City-wide  campaigns  in  which  prominent  busi- 
ness and  professional  men  of  the  community  furnished  the 
leadership  have  recently  raised  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
dollars  for  Y.  M.  C.  A.  buildings  in  Montevideo  and  Rio  de 
Janeiro. 

The  problem  of  a vital  religion  for  Hispanic  America 
will  probably  be  solved  not  by  an  unquestioned  loyalty  to 
either  a cold  New  England  Protestantism  or  a narrow, 
other-worldly  Catholicism.  In  the  short  time  since  Prot- 
estantism was  introduced  into  these  countries  it  has  had  a 
liberalizing  influence  on  the  Catholic  Church.  On  the  other 
hand,  Protestantism,  as  it  establishes  itself  in  the  South,  is 
being  transformed  by  the  warm,  sympathetic  temperament 
of  the  Latins  into  a much  less  rigorous  and  austere  faith. 
No  doubt  these  two  divisions  of  Christianity  will  mutually 
react  upon  each  other  with  a resultant  gain  to  the  people. 
The  defeat  of  both  would  come,  and  sadder  yet,  the  people 
would  completely  lose  the  fruits  of  real  spirituality,  if  these 
two  creeds  should  waste  their  energies  in  fighting  one  an- 
other instead  of  giving  themselves  to  working  out,  as  dis- 
cussed in  this  chapter,  the  great  racial,  moral,  economic  and 
social  problems  with  which  these  lands  of  sunshine  and 
shadow  are  so  threateningly  confronted. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  best  elements  of  Latin  Amer- 
ican life  are  seeking  earnestly  to  solve  these  problems,  which 
together  make  up  the  greater  problem  of  providing  an  ade- 
quate religious  dynamic  for  the  peoples  of  the  South.  As 
Dr.  Abel  J.  Perez  of  Montevideo  says : 

“Another  of  the  factors  which  in  the  most  fundamental 
way  can  cooperate  to  secure  to  the  American  citizens  an 
elevated  culture  as  beautiful  as  it  is  sane,  which  would  give 
a high  and  invariably  moral  ideal,  making  possible  the  soli- 


96 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


darity  which  is  pursued  as  a high  purpose  of  its  collective 
existence,  is  the  adoption  of  a religious  creed  so  pure  that 
it  can  protect  in  its  sanctuary  all  the  most  noble  aspirations ; 
so  ample  that  in  it  are  found  all  creeds ; so  tolerant  that  in 
it  all  the  faithful  may  mix  their  prayers — an  indispensable 
complement  of  popular  education,  a factor  of  resistance 
and  energy  that  will  bring  to  a realization  the  exalted  objects 
of  the  young  countries  of  America. 

“What  I desire  is  to  reserve  for  the  child  in  the  school 
this  shield  (religion).  I wish  to  leave  him  this  treasure  of 
resistance  which  shall  maintain  his  faith,  tone  up  his  enthu- 
siasm, give  him  absolute  possession  of  himself,  assure  to  the 
future  warrior  the  harmonious  integrity  of  his  activities 
which  the  collective  life  of  America  imperatively  demands.” 

Sources  of  Further  Information  on  Problems  of  Latin 

America 

Alberdi  : Bases  para  la  Organization  de  la  Republica  Argentina. 
Alvarez,  Agustin:  iAdonde  vamos  ?,  “La  Cultura  Argentina.” 
Arguedas,  Alcides  : El  Pueblo  Enfermo. 

Barrett,  Rafael:  El  Dolor  Paraguayo. 

Blakeslee,  Geo.:  The  Outlook,  Vol.  120,  p.  379. 
Blanco-Fombona  : Evolucion  Politica  y Social  de  America 

Espanola,  El  Hombre  de  Hierro. 

Bomfin,  M. : A America  Latina. 

Bulnes,  Francisco:  El  Porvenir  de  las  Naciones  Hispano-Ameri- 
canas. 

Bunge  : Nuestra  America. 

Calderon,  F.  Garcia  : La  Creadon  de  un  Continente,  Latin 
America,  Its  Rise  and  Progress. 

Colmo,  Alfredo  : Los  Paises  Latino-Americanos. 

Galdames,  Luis  : Educacion,  Economica  e Intelectual. 

Garcia  : La  Ciudad  Indiana. 

Huerta,  Cardus:  Harado,  Pluma  y Espada. 

Matto  de  Turner,  Clorinda:  Aves  sin  Nidos. 

Mendieta,  Salvador:  La  Enfermidad  de  Centro  America. 

Perez,  Abel  J. : “America.” 

Reports  of  the  Panama  Congress  on  Christian  Work. 

Rodo,  J.  E. : Ariel. 

Ross,  E.  A. : South  of  Panama. 

Sarmiento:  Fecundo  (English  translation). 

Speer,  R.  E. : South  American  Problems. 

Ugarte,  M. : El  Porvenir  de  la  America  Latina. 

ZbMETA,  Cesar:  El  Continente  Enfermo. 


Chapter  III 

EARLY  EFFORTS  TOWARD  PAN  AMERICANISM 

THE  BOLIVAR  IDEA 

In  the  former  chapters  we  have  drawn  up  the  balance 
sheet  of  Latin  America.  We  have  looked  at  her  wonderful 
possibilities  based  on  her  physical,  intellectual  and  spiritual 
resources.  We  have  also  taken  into  account,  on  her  debit 
side,  the  great  problems  which  she  is  facing,  and  which  she 
must  solve  before  taking  a place  of  leadership  among  the 
nations  of  the  world.  With  these  considerations  as  a back- 
ground let  us  raise  the  question  of  how  all  of  the  Americas 
may  develop  among  themselves  close  cooperation,  and  then 
build  up  a real  continental  solidarity.  First  of  all  let  us  look 
to  the  past,  and  examine  the  historic  attitude  toward  one 
another  of  both  the  United  States  and  the  southern  repub- 
lics. It  is  not  necessary  for  us  here  to  cover  the  historic 
differences  in  the  origin  and  colonial  life  of  North  and 
Hispanic  America.  These  are  amply  treated  in  many  books. 
What  we  propose  is  to  trace  the  spirit  of  unity  which,  in 
spite  of  all  the  divisive  elements  and  selfish  purposes  pre- 
vailing in  all  the  American  countries,  has  been  conspicuous 
since  the  beginning  of  the  movement  for  independence  of 
these  countries  from  Europe.  This  insistence  upon  Amer- 
ican unity  by  the  great  leaders  of  Latin  America 
runs  like  a thread  of  gold  through  all  of  the  turbulent  strug- 
gle of  those  nations  towards  the  development  of  real  democ- 
racy. 

Sentiment  has  played  its  part  in  keeping  this  idea  in  the 
foreground.  We  must  admit,  however,  that  the  important 
reason  for  its  persistence  has  been  logical  rather  than  psy- 
chological. The  development  of  Pan  Americanism  today 
is  peculiarly  dependent,  therefore,  on  scientific  and  historical 

97 


98 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


interpretation.  The  three  big  facts  that  caused  great  Amer- 
icans like  Bolivar,  and  Clay,  and  Monroe  to  think  on  what 
we  now  call  Pan  Americanism  were  the  geographical  fact 
that  all  live  on  a common  continent  separated  from  the  rest 
of  the  world  by  two  oceans;  the  historical  fact  that  all  had 
emigrated  from  and  been  colonies  of  European  nations,  and 
the  political  fact  that  all,  having  gained  their  independence, 
had  established  republican  forms  of  government — govern- 
ments which  were  more  or  less  menaced  by  these  European 
countries,  which  were  as  strongly  monarchical  as  America 
was  republican. 

We  might  as  well  frankly  admit  that  there  are  two  very 
different  peoples  living  on  the  American  continent,  differing 
widely  and  profoundly  in  race,  training  and  their  interpreta- 
tion of  life.  If  we  are  to  trust  simply  to  sentiment,  these  two 
peoples  will  not  find  themselves  particularly  drawn  to  one 
another.  The  punctiliously  polite  Latin  depreciates  the 
blunt  Saxon,  and  the  practical  Saxon  finds  it  hard  to  be 
patient  with  the  idealistic  Latin.  But  we  must  be  willing 
each  to  allow  the  other  his  own  place  in  the  American  sun, 
and  his  privilege  to  be  himself,  seeking  a common  friend- 
ship, not  because  we  are  especially  “simpatico”  to  one  an- 
other, but  because  the  logic  of  our  position  leads  to  mutual 
relations.  This  is  not  to  say  at  all  that  we  must  eliminate 
sentiment  and  forego  any  friendship  but  a selfish  one.  But 
it  does  mean  that  a Pan  Americanism  not  based  on  well 
understood  geographical,  historical  and  political  facts,  is  one 
that  will  not  stand. 

There  are  three  great  policies  that  have  guided  the  Amer- 
ican Republics  in  their  international  relations  since  they 
became  independent  from  the  mother  countries.  First,  the 
Washington  principle  of  no  entangling  alliances,  which  kept 
the  United  States  out  of  European  politics;  second,  the 
Monroe  Doctrine,  which  kept  the  European  countries  out  of 
America;  third,  the  Bolivar  idea,  which  has  advocated  the 
close  cooperation  of  all  American  republics  for  mutual  devel- 
opment and  protection  against  Europe.  While  Bolivar  and 
other  great  South  American  advocates  of  continental  soli- 
darity have  not  always  been  consistent  in  their  inclusion  of 
the  United  States,  nor  indeed  of  Brazil  in  this  unity,  Bolivar 


EARLY  EFFORTS  TOWARD  PAN  AMERICANISM  99 


can  well  be  called  the  father  of  Pan  Americanism,  or  as  it 
was  called  in  his  day,  American  Union.  The  most  funda- 
mental historical  fact,  one  which  is  often  ignored,  in  the  rise 
of  Pan  Americanism  is  that  in  the  early  development  of 
American  life,  both  Anglo-Saxon  and  Hispanic  America 
were  strongly  in  favor  of  continental  solidarity.  This  policy 
of  American  Unity  has  been  the  ideal  of  the  greatest  South- 
ern statesmen  since  the  beginning  of  their  independence. 
We  may  call  it  the  Bolivar  Idea  because  he  was  its  greatest 
exponent,  not  that  it  was  peculiar  to  him  any  more  than 
what  we  call  the  Monroe  Doctrine  was  peculiar  to  Monroe. 
Let  us  look  at  the  way  this  idea  of  unity  prevailed  in  the 
early  days  of  the  Latin  American  republics. 

EARLIEST  EXPRESSIONS  OF  THE  IDEA  OF  PAN  AMERICANISM 
IN  HISPANIC  AMERICA 

In  another  chapter  we  will  deal  with  the  early  desires  for 
continental  solidarity  as  expressed  by  leaders  in  the  United 
States.  Here  we  are  interested  in  a brief  review  of  this 
idea  of  unity  as  advocated  by  Hispanic  American  leaders. 

In  1810  expressions  of  Pan  Americanism  were  made  by 
the  Argentinian,  Bemandino  Rivadavia,  and  the  Chilean, 
Juan  Martinez  de  Rosas.  Rivadavia  in  communicating  the 
news  of  the  installation  of  the  first  Junta  at  Buenos  Aires, 
speaks  of  the  union  and  harmony  which  should  prevail 
among  citizens  of  the  same  origin,  dependence  and  inter- 
ests. In  Rosas’  “Declaration  of  the  Rights  of  the  Chilean 
People”  we  find  the  following  striking  statement:  “The 
people  of  Latin  America  cannot  defend  their  sovereignty 
single-handed : in  order  to  develop  themselves  they  need  to 
unite,  not  in  an  internal  organization,  but  for  literal  secur- 
ity against  the  plans  of  Europe,  and  to  avoid  wars  among 
themselves.  * * * The  American  states  must  unite  in  a 
congress  in  order  to  organize  and  fortify  themselves.  * * * 
The  day  when  America,  united  in  a congress,  whether  of 
the  two  continents,  or  of  the  south,  shall  speak  to  the  rest 
of  the  world,  her  voice  will  make  itself  respected  and  her 
resolve  would  be  opposed  with  difficulty.” 

In  1811  Chile  and  Venezuela  aspired  to  unite  the  two 


100 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


countries,  and  in  that  year  the  Constitution  of  Chile  declared 
that  the  American  people  ought  to  form  an  alliance  to  de- 
fend themselves  against  Europe  and  to  avoid  fratricidal 
wars. 

In  1818  O’Higgins,  the  Dictator  of  Chile,  suggested  a 
confederation  of  all  Latin  American  republics  and  urged 
“the  great  federation  of  the  American  continent  capable  of 
maintaining  its  political  and  civil  liberty.” 

The  unity  of  the  Spanish-American  states  was  argued  by 
the  Guatemalan  Ayos  and  others  of  Central  America  almost 
at  the  beginning  of  the  movement  for  independence.  Jose 
Cecilio  del  Valle  conceived  his  beautiful  “dream”  concern- 
ing the  necessity  of  a general  federation  of  the  new  Amer- 
ican states  in  1824.  This  received  the  approval  of  the 
National  Assembly  of  Central  America  which  named  pleni- 
potentiaries to  the  governments  of  Colombia,  Peru,  Chile 
and  Buenos  Aires,  to  present  this  idea  to  them.  Not  know- 
ing of  Bolivar’s  movement  along  the  same  lines,  their  repre- 
sentative was  directed  to  congratulate  the  liberator  of 
Colombia  on  his  heroic  work  for  the  independence  of  these 
countries  and  to  solicit  his  help  in  the  development  of  the 
proposed  conference. 

The  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  of  Central  America,  in 
his  first  message  to  the  Federal  Congress,  in  1825,  referred 
as  follows  to  the  Monroe  Doctrine  and  to  the  friendly  rela- 
tions between  North  and  Central  America: 

“The  existence  of  the  new  republics  of  the  continent  does 
not  interest  these  republics  alone  but  also  the  United  States 
of  the  north.  In  that  country  of  liberty  were  born  the 
institutions  which  have  acted  as  a splendid  example  for 
others  to  imitate.  Any  armed  intervention  on  the  part  of 
Europe  would  be  directed  toward  the  destruction  of  these 
same  free  institutions  and  the  establishment  in  America  of 
the  principle  of  a hereditary  monarchy,  where  constitutional 
acts  are  nothing  more  than  the  expression  of  their  mon- 
archical will.  Therefore  the  United  States  would  find  itself 
equally  threatened,  and  it  is  for  this  reason  that  the  Presi- 
dent declared  in  his  message  to  Congress  that  they  would 
look  upon  any  intervention  of  a European  power  directed 


EARLY  EFFORTS  TOWARD  PAN  AMERICANISM  101 


toward  violating  the  destinies  of  independent  American 
governments  as  a manifestation  of  hostility  towards  the 
United  States.  This  attitude  makes  the  executive  power 
hope  that  we  shall  find  in  the  sons  of  Washington  the  most 
decided  cooperators  or  supporters  in  case  our  independence 
should  be  threatened  by  European  powers.  This  govern- 
ment, being  influenced  by  these  sentiments  and  desirous  of 
manifesting  to  the  said  United  States  our  sincere  desires 
for  a reciprocal  consideration  and  mutual  friendship  and  the 
establishment  of  commercial  relations  on  bases  that  will  be 
mutually  helpful  to  each  nation,  appointed  a Minister  to 
the  United  States,  charging  him  at  the  same  time  to  carry 
out  certain  other  useful  projects  which  would  be  helpful 
to  the  cause  of  independence  and  the  service  of  the  Central 
American  Republic.” 

Dr.  Francisco  Castaneda,  after  quoting  this  document  in 
his  splendid  book  recently  issued,  called  “Nuevos  Estudios,” 
continues  as  follows : “This  was  the  predominant  mode  of 
thought  at  that  time,  and  the  more  those  statesmen  studied 
the  problems  of  the  new  American  republics  the  greater 
was  their  effort  to  stimulate  union  and  fraternity.” 

The  idea  of  Pan  Americanism  was  first  suggested  in 
Brazil  in  1817  by  Cruz  Cabuga,  plenipotentiary  of  the  Per- 
nambucan  Government  in  the  United  States.  In  1819 
another  Brazilian,  Rodrigo  Pinto  Guedes,  presented  to  the 
Minister  of  War  and  Foreign  Affairs  of  Brazil  the  idea  that 
the  only  means  Brazil  possessed  of  safeguarding  herself  in 
the  presence  of  the  threats  of  Europe  was  an  alliance  with 
her  neighbors  to  the  north  and  south,  by  means  of  what  he 
called  an  American  League.  In  1819  the  Brazilian  govern- 
ment, endeavoring  to  carry  out  this  suggestion,  sent  the  fol- 
lowing instruction  to  its  political  agent  in  Buenos  Aires : 

“After  you  have  constantly  reminded  them  that  the  in- 
terests of  the  kingdom  are  identical  with  those  of  the  other 
states  of  this  hemisphere  and  that  they  should  participate 
in  our  destinies,  you  will  promise  on  behalf  of  his  royal 
highness  the  solemn  recognition  of  the  political  independ- 
ence of  those  governments,  and  you  will  explain  the  priceless 


102 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


benefits  that  may  result  from  their  forming  a confederation 
or  offensive  and  defensive  treaty  with  Brazil,  in  order  that, 
with  the  other  governments  of  Spanish  America,  they  may 
bring  to  naught  the  crafty  wiles  of  European  politics.” 

In  a proclamation  to  the  Peruvians,  November  13,  1818, 
San  Martin  expressed  the  conviction  that  only  by  a union 
between  Argentina,  Chile  and  Peru  would  they  be  able  to 
inspire  in  Spain  the  feeling  of  her  impotence  and  in  the 
other  European  powers  the  proper  consideration  and  re- 
spect. This  idea  was  the  basis  of  his  sending,  as  Protector 
of  Peru,  envoys  to  Mexico,  Guatemala,  Colombia,  Argen- 
tina and  Chile. 

Colombia  and  Peru  signed  a treaty  of  alliance  in  1822, 
which  provided  the  basis  of  a future  league  of  all  the  Span- 
ish-American  republics,  and  for  the  meeting  of  an  Assembly 
at  Panama  which  would  serve  to  develop  intimate  relations 
between  the  states,  an  advisor  in  conflicts  and  interpreter 
of  treaties.  Colombia  and  Mexico  signed  a like  treaty. 
These  treaties  were  the  first  formal  expression  of  the  unity 
shown  in  the  struggle  for  independence,  wThich  was  a revela- 
tion of  the  interdependence  of  the  various  countries.  An 
Argentine  army  helped  liberate  Chile  and  Peru.  Sucre,  the 
Venezuelan  hero,  won  the  final  triumph  of  Peru  at  Aya- 
cucho.  Bolivar  advanced  from  Venezuela  and  freed  Colom- 
bia, Ecuador,  Peru  and  Bolivia  and  wTon  the  title  of  “the 
Father  of  Five  Republics.”  These  treaties  really  laid  the 
foundation  for  the  calling  of  the  Panama  Congress  in 
1826. 

Bernardo  Monteagudo  wrote  the  first  comprehensive 
“Plan  for  Federation”  in  Lima  in  1825.  This  document 
has  taken  its  place  as  one  of  the  most  remarkable  state 
papers  ever  produced  by  a Spanish  American.  Monteagudo, 
who  was  not  noted  for  his  virtue,  was  assassinated  soon 
after  producing  this  document,  but  no  doubt  it  influenced 
Bolivar  in  working  out  the  plans  for  the  Panama  Con- 
gress.1 

1 The  full  text  of  this  remarkable  document,  along  with  mo9t  of  the  other 
documents  concerning  early  attempts  at  American  Union,  will  be  found  in  a 
recent  publication  issued  by  the  Mexican  government,  called  “El  Ideal  Latino- 
Americano.” 


EARLY  EFFORTS  TOWARD  PAN  AMERICANISM  103 


bolivar’s  initiative 

It  is  to  Bolivar,  as  already  indicated,  that  American 
unity  owes  its  greatest  advocacy.  Even  before  independ- 
ence from  Spain  had  been  secured  he  began  working  on  this 
problem,  as  the  most  important  one  before  the  young  gov- 
ernments then  in  the  midst  of  their  birth  pangs.  In  writing 
to  the  government  concerning  the  campaign  in  Venezuela 
in  1813,  he  said:  “Only  an  intimate  and  fraternal  union  of 
the  sons  of  the  New  World  and  an  unalterable  harmony  in 
the  operation  of  their  respective  governments  will  be  able 
to  make  them  formidable  to  our  enemies  and  respectable  in 
the  sight  of  other  nations.”  On  September  6,  1815,  he 
wrote  his  famous  Prophetic  Letter  from  Jamaica,  where 
he  was  in  exile,  which  is  filled  with  this  idea,  as  the  follow- 
ing quotation  shows : 

“The  consolidation  of  the  New  World  into  a single  nation 
with  a single  bond  uniting  all  its  parts  is  a grand  conception. 
Since  the  different  parts  have  the  same  language,  customs 
and  religion,  they  ought  to  be  confederated  into  a single 
state;  but  this  is  not  possible,  because  differences  of  climate, 
diverse  conditions,  opposing  interests,  and  dissimilar  charac- 
teristics divide  America.  How  beautiful  it  would  be  if  the 
Isthmus  of  Panama  should  become  for  us  what  the  Isthmus 
of  Corinth  was  for  the  Greeks ! Would  to  God  that  we  may 
have  the  fortune  some  day  of  holding  there  some  august 
congress  of  the  representatives  of  the  republics,  kingdoms, 
and  empires  of  America,  to  deliberate  upon  the  high  inter- 
ests of  peace  and  of  war  not  only  between  the  American 
nations,  but  between  them  and  the  rest  of  the  globe.” 

Three  years  later  he  wrote  to  Pueyrredon,  Dictator  of 
the  United  Provinces  of  Rio  de  la  Plata: 

“When  more  favorable  circumstances  afford  us  more  fre- 
quent communications  and  closer  relations,  we  shall  hasten, 
with  the  liveliest  interest,  to  set  on  foot,  on  our  part,  the 
American  covenant  which,  by  forming  one  political  body  of 
all  our  republics,  shall  present  America  to  the  world  with 
an  aspect  of  majesty  and  greatness  without  parallel  among 


104. 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


the  ancient  nations.  America,  thus  united,  will  be  able  to 
call  herself  the  queen  of  nations,  the  mother  of  republics.” 

About  the  middle  of  1819,  the  Liberator  crossed  the 
Andes  and  freed  the  viceroyalty  of  Nueva  Granada.  Im- 
mediately, before  the  close  of  the  year,  he  united  Nueva 
Granada  and  Venezuela  in  a single  state,  which  he  christ- 
ened Republica  de  Colombia.  He  was  soon  to  incorporate 
Ecuador  with  the  new  republic.  He  was  realizing,  in  his 
own  way,  his  ideal  of  unifying  the  American  peoples.  In 
1822,  he  invited  the  other  republics  of  the  continent,  in 
the  name  of  Colombia,  to  make  treaties  of  alliance,  as  al- 
ready stated.  He  governed  Venezuela,  Nueva  Granada, 
Panama,  Ecuador,  Peru  and  Bolivia.  He  exercised  influ- 
ence upon  the  policy  of  the  Argentine  Republic,  where  there 
existed  a strong  party  in  opposition  to  the  government,  a 
party  of  opposition  that  sought  to  lean  upon  the  Liberator; 
the  Argentine  government  itself  sought  the  aid  of  the  vic- 
torious and  powerful  ruler  against  Brazil.  He  offered  to 
Chile  a contingent  of  troops  to  free  the  archipelago  of 
Chiloe,  still  in  possession  of  Spain.  On  the  north  he 
sought  to  extend  his  influence  to  Mexico,  to  liberate  the 
Antilles,  one  of  which,  Santo  Domingo,  had  already  de- 
clared itself  in  1821  an  integral  part  of  Colombia. 

In  December,  1824,  he  wrote  from  Peru  his  memorable 
circular  addressed  to  the  governments  of  Buenos  xAires, 
Brazil,  Colombia,  Chile,  Mexico  and  Central  America,  in 
which  he  insisted  upon  the  immense  benefits  that  would 
accrue  to  the  young  republics  from  a meeting  of  delegates 
at  Panama  to  consider  the  protection  of  their  institutions. 
Bolivar  said : 

“After  fifteen  years  of  sacrifices,  devoted  to  the  liberation 
of  America,  in  order  to  obtain  a system  of  guarantees  that, 
in  peace  or  war,  shall  be  the  buckler  of  our  destinies,  it  is 
now  time  that  the  interests  and  relations  which  unite  among 
themselves  the  American  republics,  formerly  Spanish  col- 
onies, ought  to  have  a fundamental  basis  that  shall  perpet- 
uate, if  possible,  the.duration  of  these  governments.  * * * 
So  respectable  an  authority  (as  that  which  shall  direct  the 


EARLY  EFFORTS  TOWARD  PAN  AMERICANISM  105 


policy  of  these  governments)  can  not  exist,  except  in  an 
assembly  of  plenipotentiaries,  appointed  by  each  of  our  re- 
publics, and  gathered  under  the  auspices  of  the  victory 
obtained  by  our  arms  against  the  might  of  Spain.  The 
Isthmus  of  Panama  has  been  offered  by  the  government  of 
Colombia  for  this  purpose  by  existing  treaties.” 

Thus  came  about  the  first  meeting  in  the  world’s  history 
to  consider  the  formation  of  a League  of  Nations.  Because 
it  was  not  immediately  successful,  history  has  given  far  too 
little  recognition  to  this  remarkable  gathering,  the  idea 
back  of  which  has  struggled  for  expression  a hundred  years 
and  must  soon  triumph. 

The  Congress  was  hurriedly  called  and  only  the  delegates 
from  Colombia,  Peru,  Mexico  and  Central  America  arrived 
in  time  to  attend  the  sessions.  There  was  also  present  a 
representative  of  Great  Britain  and  Holland  had  an  unofficial 
observer.  Chile  professed  friendship  for  the  Congress,  but 
delegates  were  appointed  too  late  to  arrive.  Bolivia’s  dele- 
gates had  the  same  fate.  Brazil  appointed  delegates,  but 
probably  her  fear  that  the  congress  might  wish  to  side  with 
Argentina  in  their  dispute  over  Uruguay,  caused  them  to 
stay  away.  Paraguay,  under  the  dictator  Francia,  was 
maintaining  a policy  of  isolation  from  all  the  world  at  that 
time,  so  refused  all  relations  with  the  meeting.  As  the 
Chilean  historian  B.  Vicuna  Mackenna  says : “As  far  as 
Chile  and  La  Plata  were  concerned,  they  refused  to  send 
delegates  to  the  assembly  because  of  a petty  suspicion  con- 
cerning the  designs  for  universal  power  attributed  to  Boli- 
var.” 

The  Congress  was  to  consider,  according  to  a letter  from 
the  Colombian  Government  to  its  representative  in  Buenos 
Aires,  the  following  matters : 

1.  “To  renew  the  treaty  of  union,  alliance,  and  perpetual 
confederacy  against  Spain  or  any  other  power  which  might 
attempt  to  dominate  over  us. 

2.  “To  issue,  in  the  name  of  their  constituents,  a suitable 
manifesto  upon  the  justice  of  their  cause,  exposing  the 
sinister  views  of  Spain  and  declaring  our  system  of  politics 
with  respect  to  the  other  powers  of  Christianity. 


106 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


3.  “To  consider  the  condition  of  the  islands  of  Porto  Rico 
and  Cuba ; the  expediency  of  a combined  force  to  free  them 
from  the  Spanish  yoke ; and  the  proportion  of  troops  which 
each  state  should  contribute  for  that  purpose;  and  to  deter- 
mine whether  the  islands  shall  be  united  to  either  of  the 
confederated  states  or  be  left  at  liberty  to  choose  their  own 
government. 

4.  “To  conclude  or  renew  a treaty  of  commerce  between 
the  new  states  as  allies  and  confederates. 

5.  “To  conclude  a consular  convention  between  all,  which 
should  clearly  and  distinctly  lay  down  the  functions  and 
prerogatives  of  their  respective  consuls. 

6.  “To  take  into  consideration  the  means  of  giving  effect 
to  the  declarations  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  in  his  message  to  the  Congress  of  last  year,  with  a 
view  to  frustrating  any  future  idea  of  colonization  on  this 
continent  by  the  powers  of  Europe,  and  to  resist  any  prin- 
ciple of  interference  in  our  internal  affairs. 

7.  “To  establish  in  concert  those  principles  of  the  rights 
of  nations,  which  are  of  a controversial  nature,  and  especially 
those  which  relate  to  two  nations,  one  of  which  is  engaged 
in  war,  whilst  the  other  is  neutral. 

8.  “Lastly,  to  declare  on  what  footing  the  political  and 
commercial  relations  of  those  parts  of  our  hemisphere, 
which,  like  the  island  of  Santo  Domingo  or  Haiti,  are  sepa- 
rated from  their  ancient  government,  and  have  not  yet  been 
recognized  by  any  European  or  American  power,  should  be 
placed.” 

Bolivar’s  first  invitation  did  not  include  the  United  States, 
which  was  afterward  invited  by  representatives  of  the  Co- 
lombian and  Mexican  Governments.2  President  Santander 

2 This  has  led  some  writers  to  assert  that  Bolivar  was  an  enemy  to  the  United 
States.  But  this  is  not  borne  out  by  the  facts,  as  is  shown  in  the  excellent 
study  of  Prof.  W.  R.  Shepherd,  in  his  pamphlet,  “Bolivar  and  the  United  States.’* 

While  Bolivar  did  not  believe  that  Colombia  and  other  Latin  American  coun- 
tries were  ready  to  follow  the  United  States  in  her  federal  constitution,  yet  he 
spoke  many  times  of  the  wonderful  country  toward  the  North.  In  his  famous 
Jamaica  letter  he  wrote: 

“As  long  as  our  compatriots  do  not  acquire  the  political  talent  and  virtues 
that  distinguish  our  brothers  of  the  North,  systems  entirely  popular  far  from 
being  advantageous  to  us,  1 fear  greatly,  may  come  to  be  our  ruin.  Unhappily 
these  qualities  in  the  requisite  degrees  seem  very  distant  from  us.  On  the  con- 
trary we  are  dominated  by  the  vices  contracted  under  the  rule  of  a nation  like 
the  Spanish,  which  has  excelled  only  in  pride,  ambition,  prejudice  and  avarice.” 
(Blanco  Fombona.  “Bolivar  y la  Liberacion  de  Sur  America,”  Vol.  I,  page  383.) 

Concerning  Bolivar’s  evident  desire  that  the  United  States  participate  in  the 


EARLY  EFFORTS  TOWARD  PAN  AMERICANISM  107 


of  Colombia,  referring  to  this  matter,  said:  “In  regard  to 
the  United  States  I have  believed  it  important  to  invite  them 
to  the  Assembly  at  Panama,  being  convinced  that  our  allies 
would  see  with  satisfaction  the  taking  part  in  the  delibera- 
tions concerning  our  common  interests  such  sincere  and 
illustrious  friends.” 

President  John  Quincy  Adams,  although  warmly  espous- 
ing the  cause  of  the  young  southern  nations,  yet  hesitated 
at  first  to  accept  the  invitation  because  the  United  States  was 
neutral  in  the  conflict  with  Spain,  with  whom  we  had  been 
treating  for  the  purchase  of  Florida.  However,  on  Decem- 
ber 26,  1825,  the  President  sent  to  the  Senate  the  appoint- 
ment as  plenipotentiaries  of  the  United  States  of  two  emi- 
nent men,  Richard  C.  Anderson  of  Kentucky,  and  John 
Sergeant  of  Pennsylvania.  There  was  such  determined 
opposition  by  the  Senate  that  it  looked  as  though  the  pro- 
posal would  be  defeated.  The  discussions  concerning  the 
invitation  to  join  this  first  League  of  Nations  make 
strangely  interesting  reading  in  view  of  the  Senate’s  debates 
concerning  the  Covenant  of  the  Versailles  League.  Happily 
it  only  required  five  months  in  these  early  days  to  reach  an 
affirmative  vote  and  confirm  the  commissioner’s  nomination. 
Their  instructions,  dated  May  8,  1826,  were  drawn  by 
Henry  Clay  and  signed  by  him  as  Secretary  of  State. 

INSTRUCTIONS  OF  UNITED  STATES  DELEGATES 

Covering  a wide  range,  they  disclosed  the  broad  and  far- 
reaching  views  to  which,  in  cooperation  with  President 
Adams,  he  sought  to  give  effect.  First  the  instructions  de- 
clared that  the  President  could  not  have  declined  the  invita- 
tion to  the  Congress  without  subjecting  the  United  States  to 
the  reproach  of  insensibility  to  the  deepest  concerns  of  the 

Panama  Congress  O’Leary,  his  secretary,  writes  on  page  36  of  “Brief  Data  for 
the  Diplomatic  History  of  Colombia,”  as  follows: 

“Colombia  ordered  Salazar,  its  Minister  in  Washington,  to  sound  the  intentions 
of  that  government  regarding  the  great  assembly  and  in  case  it  were  favorably 
disposed  formally  to  invite  it  to  send  plenipotentiaries  to  Panama,  who,  in  union 
with  those  from  Colombia  and  allies,  should  concert  efficacious  means  of  re- 
sisting all  foreign  colonization  on  the  American  Continent  and  to  the  application  of 
legitimate  principles  to  the  American  states  in  general.”  (“Bolivar  y la  Liberacion 
de  Sur  America,”  Vol.  II,  p.  621.) 


108 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


American  hemisphere.  Moreover,  the  assembling  of  a Con- 
gress would  “form  a new  epoch  in  human  affairs.”  Not 
only  would  the  fact  itself  challenge  the  attention  of  the 
civilized  world,  but  it  was  confidently  hoped  that  the  Con- 
gress would  “entitle  itself  to  the  affection  and  lasting  grati- 
tude of  all  America,  by  the  wisdom  and  liberality  of  its 
principles”  and  by  the  establishment  of  a new  guarantee 
for  the  great  interests  which  would  engage  its  deliberations. 
At  the  same  time  the  fact  was  emphasized  that  the  Congress 
was  to  be  regarded  as  a diplomatic  body,  without  powers  of 
ordinary  legislation.  It  was  not  to  be  an  amphictyonic  coun- 
cil, invested  with  power  finally  to  decide  controversies  be- 
tween the  American  states  or  to  regulate  in  any  respect  their 
conduct,  but  was  expected  to  afford  opportunities  for  free 
and  friendly  conference  and  to  facilitate  the  conclusion  of 
treaties. 

After  these  preliminary  explanations,  the  instructions  pro- 
ceeded to  point  out  that  it  was  not  the  intention  of  the  United 
States  to  change  its  pacific  and  neutral  policy.  While,  there- 
fore, the  Congress  probably  would  consider  the  future 
prosecution  of  the  war  with  Spain  by  the  existing  belliger- 
ents, the  delegates  of  the  United  States  were  not  to  enter 
into  a discussion  of  that  subject,  but  were  to  confine  them- 
selves strictly  to  subjects  in  which  all  the  American  nations, 
whether  belligerent  or  neutral,  might  have  an  interest.  One 
of  these  was  the  maintenance  of  peace,  which  was  declared 
to  be  the  greatest  want  of  America. 

In  regard  to  European  wars,  confidence  was  expressed  that 
the  policy  of  all  America  would  be  the  same,  that  of  peace 
and  neutrality,  which  the  United  States  had  constantly 
labored  to  preserve.  On  this  supposition,  the  greatest  im- 
portance was,  said  the  instructions,  attached  to  questions  of 
maritime  neutrality.  The  delegates  were  to  bring  forward 
the  proposition  to  abolish  war  against  private  property  and 
non-combatants  upon  the  ocean,  as  formerly  proposed  by  Dr. 
Franklin;  but  as  this  might  not  be  readily  adopted,  they  were 
authorized  to  propose  that  free  ships  should  make  free  goods 
and  that  enemy  ships  should  make  enemy  goods,  both  rules 
being  considered  to  operate  in  favor  of  neutrality.  The 


EARLY  EFFORTS  TOWARD  PAN  AMERICANISM  109 


delegates  were  also  to  seek  a definition  of  blockade,  and  were, 
besides,  to  deal  with  the  subject  of  contraband. 

In  regard  to  commercial  intercourse,  the  instructions  in* 
corporated  the  most  liberal  views.  The  delegates  of  the 
United  States  were  not  to  seek  exclusive  privileges  even  as 
against  the  European  powers.  They  were  to  observe  the 
most-favored-nation  principle,  so  that  any  favors  in  com- 
merce or  in  navigation  granted  by  an  American  nation  to 
any  foreign  power  should  extend  to  every  other  American 
nation ; and  were  to  oppose  the  imposition  of  discriminating 
duties  on  importations  or  exportations  on  account  of  the 
flag. 

As  for  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  the  delegates  of  the  United 
States,  without  committing  the  parties  to  the  support  of  any 
particular  boundaries  or  to  a joint  resistance  in  any  future 
case,  were  desired  to  propose  a joint  declaration  that  each 
American  state,  acting  for  and  binding  only  itself,  would 
not  allow  a new  European  colony  to  be  established  within  its 
territories. 

Concerning  Cuba  and  Haiti,  which  the  Congress  might 
consider,  the  stating  of  a satisfactory  position  was  much 
more  difficult.  As  to  Haiti  (which,  as  a “negro  republic,” 
was  closely  associated  with  the  slavery  question)  the  opinion 
was  expressed  that  it  was  not  necessary  for  all  America  to 
agree  upon  it.  Respecting  Cuba,  the  United  States  would 
like  to  see  it  free  itself,  but  could  not  see  its  freedom  guar- 
anteed by  other  powers,  European  or  American,  neither 
could  it  look  with  favor  on  its  being  conquered  and  ruled  by 
Colombia  and  Mexico,  which  was  reported  to  be  the  plan  of 
those  countries. 

The  instructions  further  suggested  that  a joint  declara- 
tion be  made  in  favor  of  freedom  of  religious  worship ; that 
concerning  government,  the  United  States  preferred  their 
own  confederacy  to  all  other  forms,  but  as  they  allowed  no 
foreign  interference  in  their  own  government,  they  were 
“equally  scrupulous  in  refraining  from  all  interference  in  the 
original  structure  or  subsequent  interior  movement  of  the 
governments  of  other  independent  nations.” 

Anderson,  who  was  then  Minister  to  Colombia,  started  to 
Panama,  but  died  on  the  way  at  Puerto  Bello.  Sergeant  saw 


110 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


the  uselessness  of  making  the  attempt  but  later  went  to  Tacu- 
baya  where  the  second  session  was  scheduled  to  take  place. 

Delegates  from  Colombia  and  Peru  went  early  to  the 
Isthmus  and  began  their  parleys  almost  a year  before  the 
formal  opening  of  the  Congress,  which  took  place  on  June 
22,  1826. 


THE  CONGRESS  IN  ACTION 

In  an  inaugural  address  the  Peruvian  deputy  Vidaurre 
spoke  of  two  things  that  threatened  peace  in  America — 
imperialism  of  certain  states  (not  then  referring  to  the 
United  States)  and  the  anarchy  within  other  states.  “Let  us 
form  one  family,  forgetting  the  names  which  distinguish 
each  country  and  let  us  be  brothers  all,”  said  the  distin- 
guished Peruvian.  Panama  proved  to  be  anything  but  a 
propitious  locality  for  the  developing  of  such  a brotherhood. 
Its  unhealth  fulness,  connected  with  the  small  attendance, 
caused  an  early  adjournment. 

The  principles  adopted  at  this  Congress  were : 

1.  Countries  to  aid  one  another  with  military  and  naval 
forces  if  attacked  by  foreign  nations; 

2.  To  settle  all  disputes  by  friendly  arbitration  (thus  it  is 
seen  that  arbitration  originated  in  Latin  America)  ; 

3.  Extend  the  rights  of  citizenship  in  each  country  to 
citizens  of  other  American  countries; 

4.  Renounce  the  traffic  in  slaves ; and 

5.  Guarantee  mutually  the  integrity  of  each  American 
state. 

It  was  decided  that  an  Assembly  should  be  organized  to 
meet  every  two  years  to : 

1.  Negotiate  treaties  to  promote  satisfactory  relations  be- 
tween the  American  countries ; 

2.  Contribute  to  maintenance  of  peace  among  the  Ameri- 
can nations ; 

3.  Forward  the  habit  of  conciliation  among  allied  and 
foreign  powers ; 

4.  Offer  its  good  offices  to  terminate  wars. 


EARLY  EFFORTS  TOWARD  PAN  AMERICANISM  111 


FAILURE  OF  ADJOURNED  SESSION 

The  Congress  adjourned  on  July  15th  to  meet  at  Tacu- 
baya,  a suburb  of  the  City  of  Mexico.  One  of  the  delegates 
from  each  country  returned  home  to  report  to  his  govern- 
ment and  secure  the  ratification  of  the  agreements  of  the 
Congress,  and  the  other  proceeded  to  Tacubaya  to  await 
the  opening  of  the  second  session.  Only  Colombia  ap- 
proved the  proposed  agreement.  Several  representatives 
remained  in  Mexico  for  some  time  awaiting  such  approval, 
but  not  even  the  Mexican  government  itself  would  face  the 
matter,  since  a revolution  started  about  then  that  took  all 
the  officials’  time.  So  the  representatives  of  the  United 
States  and  other  countries  finally  left  for  home,  with  nothing 
accomplished. 

As  a Peruvian  writer  says : “These  were  platonic  votes  in 
an  hour  of  grave  dissension,  noble  ideals  confronted  by  pre- 
mature wars.”  Even  Bolivar  himself  seemed  to  have 
lost  confidence  in  the  movement,  before  the  meeting’s  ad- 
journment. His  power  had  already  begun  to  wane,  and 
about  this  time  he  left  Peru,  discredited,  and  returned  to 
Colombia,  with  the  hope  of  staying  the  movement  against 
him  there.  Of  the  Congress  he  said : “The  Panama  Con- 
gress, which  would  have  been  admirable  if  it  had  been  more 
efficacious,  reminds  me  of  that  Greek  madman,  who,  from 
the  summit  of  a rock,  pretended  to  direct  the  movement  of 
vessels  on  the  high  seas.”  The  various  ships  of  state  went 
to  pieces  rapidly  and  Bolivar,  everywhere  discredited,  died 
of  a broken  heart. 

The  seed  planted  by  him  were,  however,  destined  to  grow, 
slowly  it  is  true,  through  the  years,  with  both  North  and 
Latin  Americans  working  away  at  the  problems  that  his 
far-seeing  vision  had  realized  must  be  solved  before  the 
American  republics  can  attain  their  rightful  place  in  world 
leadership.  While  much  is  yet  to  be  accomplished,  at  least 
the  following  of  Bolivar’s  Panama  program  has  been  worked 
out : arbitration,  abolition  of  slavery,  settlement  of  most 
boundary  disputes,  standing  together  against  European  in- 
trusion, building  of  the  Panama  Canal,  the  uniting  of  all 
American  nations  in  the  Pan  American  Union. 


112 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


SUCCESSORS  TO  BOLIVAR 

Soon  after  the  Panama  Congress  Bolivar  died,  but  it  is 
most  interesting  to  see  how  other  Latin  American  leaders 
went  on  amid  all  kinds  of  discouragements,  patiently  work- 
ing at  the  problem  of  unity. 

The  government  of  Mexico  in  March,  1831,  invited  all  the 
republics  of  America  to  attend  a conference  to  be  held,  at 
the  option  of  a majority,  either  in  Tacubaya,  Panama  or 
Lima.  In  the  absence  of  tangible  results,  Mexico  induced 
Venezuela  to  second  it  in  the  task  of : 

“promoting  the  union  and  close  alliance  of  the  new  states  for 
defence  against  foreign  invasion;  for  the  acceptance  of 
friendly  mediation  of  the  neutral  states;  for  the  settlement 
of  all  disagreements  and  disputes  of  whatever  nature  that 
might  happen  to  arise  between  the  sister  republics ; and  for 
the  framing  and  promulgation  of  a code  of  public  law  regu- 
lating their  mutual  relations.” 

The  Mexican  statesman,  Juan  de  Dios  Canedo,  as  Min- 
ister to  Peru  and  other  South  American  states  from  1831  to 
1839,  and  later  as  Minister  of  Foreign  Relations,  worked 
assiduously  at  the  task  of  union  during  this  period.  But,  as 
Nunez  Ortega  points  out,  the  work  of  Senor  Canedo  seemed 
to  be  lost  because  of  the  rivalries  between  Bolivia,  Peru, 
Chile  and  Buenos  Aires,  and  because  of  continued  internal 
disturbances,  the  anarchy  and  extreme  poverty  of  these 
states  during  this  period. 

But  the  idea,  like  all  true  visions,  would  not  down.  Co- 
lombia and  Mexico  having  failed  as  leaders  to  bring  about 
desired  unity,  Peru  now  became  the  noble  knight  who  was  to 
do  valiant  sendee  for  many  years  for  the  ideal. 

The  occasion  for  the  calling  of  the  next  congress  was  the 
movement  of  Spain,  encouraged  by  the  Ecuadorian  Juan 
Jose  Flores,  to  reconquer  her  colonies  on  the  Pacific. 

THE  “AMERICAN  CONGRESS” 

This  was  called  the  “American  Congress”  and  met  at 
Lima  from  Dec.  1,  1847, 1°  March  10,  1848,  on  the  initiative 


EARLY  EFFORTS  TOWARD  PAN  AMERICANISM  113 


of  the  republics  of  Bolivia,  Chile,  Ecuador,  Nueva  Granada 
and  Peru.  The  fundamental  ideas  of  this  second  assembly 
did  not  differ  from  those  of  the  first : the  territorial  integrity 
and  political  independence  of  the  federated  states;  defensive 
alliance  against  aggression  of  foreign  powers ; unification  of 
the  rights  of  Americans;  confirmation  of  agreements  from 
1810-1824  that  fixed  the  frontiers  of  the  new  republics; 
solidarity  in  the  repression  of  interior  anarchy;  defense  of  a 
democratic  regime ; abolition  of  slavery,  and  an  ideal  fra- 
ternity. 

Bolivia,  Chile,  Ecuador,  Nueva  Granada  and  Peru  sent 
delegates  to  the  conference.  These  delegates  recognized  in 
the  treaty  signed  Feb.  8,  1848,  that  “the  American  Republics 
joined  together  by  the  principles  of  origin,  language,  religion 
and  customs ; by  their  geographical  position ; by  the  common 
cause  which  they  had  defended ; by  the  analogy  of  their  in- 
stitutions, and,  above  all,  by  their  common  necessities  and 
reciprocal  interests  cannot  consider  themselves  except  as 
parts  of  one  and  the  same  nation.” 

The  plenipotentiaries  meeting  in  Lima,  as  those  that  met 
in  Panama,  resolved  that  a Congress  formed  by  the  min- 
isters of  the  contracting  states  should  meet  every  three  years, 
more  or  less,  in  extraordinary  session.  The  zealous  patriot- 
ism of  these  nations,  however,  thought  it  saw  a danger  to 
their  autonomy  in  the  permanency  of  this  proposed  con- 
gress. So  they  called  it  an  Assembly,  in  order  not  to  con- 
found it  with  the  national  congress.  Its  attributes,  very 
much  limited,  consisted  mainly  in  the  interpretation  of 
treaties  that  the  interested  parties  might  conclude  among 
themselves  and  in  the  right  of  benevolent  intervention  in 
future  conflicts  in  order  to  propose  conciliatory  measures. 
Thus  it  was  that  a moral  power,  a species  of  advisory  board, 
“inefficient  and  solemn,”  was  proposed  in  this  period  of 
American  evolution. 

This  conference  was  distinguished,  however,  by  a tenta- 
tive practical  agreement  providing  that:  “the  natural  prod- 
ucts and  manufactured  articles  of  any  of  the  confederated 
republics  that  should  be  introduced  in  other  republics  in 
national  bottoms  would  only  be  charged  one-third  part  of  the 
importation  duties  that  were  charged  to  outside  nations.” 


114 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


Thus  it  was  that  the  political  discussions  were  converted  into 
a practical  resolution.  A half  century  later  Secretary  of 
State  Blaine  adopted  the  same  plan,  as  a necessary  ante- 
cedent to  Pan  Americanism.  While  these  States  were  sitting 
in  council  to  devise  means  of  uniting  America  to  protect 
themselves  from  foreign  invasion,  the  United  States  was  at 
war  with  Mexico.  So  of  course  neither  she  nor  Mexico  had 
any  part  in  the  Congress. 

Unfortunately  the  decisions  of  this  “American  Congress” 
met  with  little  more  enthusiasm  in  the  various  national  gov- 
ernments than  had  those  of  the  Panama  gathering. 

BEGINNING  OF  SUSPICION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 

The  expeditions  of  the  North  American  filibuster,  Walker, 
against  Central  America  led  to  the  next  movement  for  unity 
among  the  Spanish-American  countries,  which  had  now  be- 
come fearful  of  the  United  States  as  well  as  of  Europe. 
Peru,  again  leading,  sent  arms  and  money  to  her  brothers  in 
Central  America  and  initiated  a movement  which  resulted  in 
the  so-called  “Continental  Treaty”  or  Triple  Alliance  (Pacto 
Tripartito)  which  was  signed  September  15,  1856,  in  Santi- 
ago by  the  representatives  of  Peru,  Ecuador  and  Chile.  This 
treaty  was  more  careful  than  previous  ones  to  guard  the 
rights  of  each  country,  to  conserve  its  autonomy  and  the  in- 
tegrity of  its  territory.  The  securing  of  the  signatures  of 
the  other  Hispanic  American  countries  was  left  to  Peru.  In 
presenting  the  treaty  to  Argentina,  in  1862,  the  Peruvian 
minister  expressed  the  ideas  behind  it,  as  follows : 

“The  government  of  Peru,  witnessing  what  has  recently 
taken  place  in  Mexico  and  Santo  Domingo,  which  signifies 
a general  danger  to  independent  America,  believes  that  one 
of  the  first  steps  that  ought  to  be  taken  to  ward  off  this  dan- 
ger is  the  unification,  in  the  republics  of  this  continent,  of 
certain  principles  which  should  be  made  a part  of  their  inter- 
national law,  and  the  development  of  friendly  relations  and 
good  understanding  among  these  peoples  and  governments 
in  order  to  eliminate  in  the  future  all  kinds  of  war.  * * * 
Because  such  hostile  acts  have  even  overtaken  Anglo-Saxon 


EARLY  EFFORTS  TOWARD  PAN  AMERICANISM  115 


America,  a just  alarm  intimates  the  arrival  of  an  hour  when 
we  should  proceed  to  an  understanding  concerning  the  bases 
of  a general  American  peace  and  union,  in  order  that  the 
nations  of  this  continent  may  form  an  alliance,  if  the  same 
attacks  should  be  made  on  their  liberty  that  were  made 
against  Mexico.” 

Guatemala,  in  agreeing  to  sign  the  pact,  said : “There  has 
been  an  endeavor  to  impress  all  these  states  with  the  idea  that 
the  happiness  of  the  whole  continent,  including  the  two 
Americas,  depends  on  subjection  to  that  republic  (the  United 
States  of  America)  sustaining  that  the  ‘Manifest  Destiny’  of 
that  republic  is  to  make  uniform  her  principles  and  interests 
with  those  of  every  other  American  nation.” 

DIFFERENCES  BETWEEN  VARIOUS  COUNTRIES 

Colombia,  in  response  to  Peru’s  invitation  to  sign  the 
Triple  Alliance  agreement,  accepted  the  invitation  but  pointed 
out  to  the  Peruvian  ministry  that  the  Colombian  government 
had  already  planned  to  invite  the  governments  of  both  Amer- 
icas to  send  representatives  to  an  International  Congress  of 
Republics,  to  be  held  in  Panama  as  soon  as  it  seemed  neces- 
sary to  meet  the  evidently  hostile  intentions  of  Europe.  Co- 
lombia did  shortly  after  issue  a statement  to  the  American 
governments  which  proposed  an  “American  Decalogue,” 
consisting  of  ten  articles  looking  toward  united  action  of  all 
America,  to  be  discussed  at  the  conference  provided  for  in 
Article  XX  of  the  Triple  Alliance  agreement.  In  response 
to  this  note  the  government  of  Costa  Rica  proposed  “a  new 
treaty  by  which  the  United  States  would  contract  the  solemn 
duty  of  respecting  and  cause  to  be  respected  the  indepen- 
dence, sovereignty  and  territorial  integrity  of  her  sister  re- 
publics of  this  continent.” 

The  governments  of  Mexico,  Nicaragua,  Bolivia,  Hon- 
duras, Colombia  and  Costa  Rica  either  signed  the  Triple 
Alliance  agreement  or  endorsed  its  ideas.  Argentina  chal- 
lenged the  whole  assumption  of  the  treaty,  saying  through 
Minister  Elisandre : “Independent  America  is  a political  en- 
tity that  does  not  exist,  nor  is  it  possible  to  constitute  it  by 
diplomatic  fulminations.  America  contains  independent  na- 


116 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


tions  with  their  own  institutions  and  means  of  government 
and  cannot  form  one  political  entity.” 

Argentina  had  now  found  out  the  advantages  of  her  geo- 
graphical situation.  She  was  to  receive  capital  and  immigra- 
tion from  Europe.  Indeed  she  already  felt  in  her  ports  the 
rumbling  of  a tumultuous  immigration  and  thought  that 
there  existed  for  the  Spanish-American  republics  more  ties, 
more  interests,  more  harmony  with  Europe  than  with  one 
another.  She  did  not  fear  the  aggressions  of  monarchical 
governments.  Indeed  such  men  as  Alberdi  argued  that  it 
was  from  Europe  that  Argentina  might  expect  the  most 
help.  In  international  relations  then  she  proposed  to  do 
away  with  antagonisms  with  the  governments  and  the  peo- 
ples of  Europe  and  to  bring  together,  on  the  contrary,  all  the 
forces  and  elements  that  were  able  to  help  in  developing  her 
national  resources;  to  foment  the  reconstruction  of  the  na- 
tionalities of  America  that  imprudently  had  divided  and 
subdivided ; not  to  place  herself  in  opposition  to  other  gov- 
ernments because  they  do  not  accept  her  form  of  govern- 
ment ; to  look  for  harmony  with  the  United  States  instead  of 
excluding  it  and  keeping  it  off  at  a distance ; to  resist  every 
aggression  of  American  states  to  conquer  them  and  to  annul 
the  form  of  republican  government;  to  abandon  the  idea  of 
an  American  Congress  as  impossible  and  to  substitute  the 
signing  of  treaties  of  alliance  to  guarantee  the  defense  and 
common  security  of  all  America. 

“Facing  this  Colombian  position  of  platonic  congresses,” 
says  Garcia  Calderon,  “we  find  the  Argentinian  belief  in  the 
utility  of  alliances.  Neither  in  1856  nor  today  is  the  Ameri- 
can continent  unified.  Deserts,  undiscovered  stretches  of 
territory,  geographical  differences  separate  these  peoples. 
To  force  a political  unity  on  diverse  nations  without  creating 
interests,  without  joining  up  territories,  without  reconstruct- 
ing sterile  national  division,  was  a utopian  scheme.” 

The  skepticism  of  the  Argentine  politicians  threatened  to 
destroy  the  noble  Americanism  of  the  liberators,  thought  the 
Peruvian  statesmen,  one  of  whom  observed  pessimistically : 
“This  is  the  first  time  since  our  great  Revolution  that  the 
voice  of  a government  has  arisen  opposing  what  for  the 


EARLY  EFFORTS  TOWARD  PAN  AMERICANISM  117 


Americans  has  come  to  be  a principle  and  dogma  founded  in 
the  glories  of  the  past,  in  the  hope  of  the  future,  and  the 
fraternity  of  all  times.  The  Argentine  Republic  was  the 
first  soldier  of  the  independence  of  America.  If  today,  when 
danger  is  near,  the  means  of  combating  it  is  sought,  she 
prefers  to  desert,  denying  the  principal  basis  of  her  gran- 
deur, not  recognizing  in  herself  anything  but  a mixture  of 
nationalities  with  isolated  and  diverse  interests,  she  could 
not  forget  without  hurting  her  deserved  renown,  that  she 
was  also  the  first  in  recognizing  American  unity  through  the 
acts  of  her  greatest  citizens  and  the  sacrifice  of  her  treasures 
and  blood.” 

Whatever  objections  Argentina,  more  practical  than  her 
tropical  neighbors,  may  have  had  to  this  merry  round  of 
meetings,  that  worked  for  a close  federation  of  American 
nations,  she  was  always  a leader  in  advocating  arbitration — 
compulsory  arbitration  at  that.  This  position  was  clearly 
stated  in  a notable  paper,  written  by  Minister  Irygoyen,  in 
answer  to  Colombia’s  invitation  to  the  second  Panama  Con- 
gress. Senor  Irygoyen  said : 

“Arbitration  is  certainly  a noble  aspiration  of  the  present 
day  and  the  Argentine  government  can  point  with  pride  to 
its  endorsement,  from  an  early  date,  of  that  measure  which 
wisely  reconciles  the  requirements  of  justice  with  the  gener- 
ous sentiment  of  mankind.  It  had  occasion  to  stipulate  for 
it  with  the  most  excellent  government  of  Chile  in  1856,  to 
settle  boundary  disputes  then  existing  and  those  which  might 
thereafter  arise.  It  declared  in  1874,  in  official  documents 
published  to  the  world,  that  it  was  ‘resolved,  with  or  without 
treaties,  to  settle  all  international  controversies  by  arbitra- 
tion’ ; and,  faithful  to  those  declarations,  it  submitted  in 
1876  its  differences  with  Paraguay  to  arbitration,  after  a 
long  war  pursued  for  reasons  of  honor  and  of  security 'in 
which  its  arms  and  those  of  its  allies  completely  repelled  the 
advances  of  that  nation.” 

Along  with  Argentina,  Chile,  the  other  most  southern 
country,  blessed  with  stable  government  and  no  doubt  in- 


118 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


fluenced  with  imperialistic  ambitions,  had  in  different  ways 
shown  inclinations  to  “throw  the  monkey  wrench  into  the 
machinery”  of  a smooth-working  American  unity  toward 
which  the  countries  of  the  more  tropical  lands  were  con- 
tinuously working.  Following  her  war  with  Peru  and  Bo- 
livia, when  she  added  three  rich  northern  provinces  to  her 
territory,  she  was  naturally  more  careful  than  ever  about 
entering  into  unions  and  blanket  agreements  concerning 
arbitration. 

But  Peru  continued  her  ardent  support  of  the  American 
Ideal  and  in  1864  again  invited  the  American  nations  to  a 
new  Congress  in  order  to  give  the  continent  “a  peculiar 
form.”  The  special  occasion  for  the  Congress  was  of  course 
the  intervention  of  Spain  in  Santo  Domingo  and  the  inter- 
vention of  France  in  Mexico.  Peru  also  showed  practically 
her  sympathy  for  Mexico  by  sending  a large  amount  of  war 
material  and  money  to  Mexico,  with  a special  salutation  in 
the  form  of  a gold  medal  to  the  intrepid  little  Indian,  Juarez. 
The  principles  submitted  to  the  assembly  were  not  new:  To 
formulate  a new  family  of  nations ; to  maintain  the  integrity 
of  their  territory ; to  oppose  foreign  domination ; to  provide 
for  compulsory  arbitration  and  to  discuss  certain  practical 
questions — commercial  and  postal  conventions,  a common 
currency  and  an  exchange  of  products. 

SECOND  “AMERICAN  CONGRESS” 

This  Second  American  Congress  met  in  Lima,  from  No- 
vember 14,  1864,  to  March  13,  1865.  In  its  sessions,  as 
also  in  those  of  the  previous  one,  fears  were  expressed  of  the 
way  the  United  States  was  working  out  its  “Manifest  Des- 
tiny” program.  One  of  the  delegates  said:  “Liberty  is  not 
unknown  either  in  monarchies  or  in  republics ; it  is  enjoyed 
in  monarchical  England  as  also  in  the  most  advanced  of  the 
republics.  The  friendship  of  Europe  should  be  sought.  The 
natural  preponderance  of  a powerful  neighbor  disturbed  us 
all.  The  political  policies  of  North  America  continue  to  be 
threatening  and  the  enthusiasm  for  her  statesmen  during 
1826  is  now  lost.” 

The  Congress  was  attended  by  many  eminent  men:  Paz 


EARLY  EFFORTS  TOWARD  PAN  AMERICANISM  119 


Soldan  of  Peru;  Manuel  Montt,  founder  of  a political  party 
and  president  of  Chile;  Antonio  Leocadio  Guzman,  liberal 
politician  of  great  influence  in  Venezuela;  and  finally,  Sar- 
miento,  leader  of  democracy  in  Argentina.  The  danger 
from  Spain  gave  a tragic  prestige  to  the  deliberations  of  this 
assembly.  Unanimously  it  rejected  the  claims  of  Spain.  As 
in  the  times  of  the  great  Revolution,  the  international  cords 
that  bound  them  together  were  strengthened  and  an  alliance 
between  Colombia,  Peru,  Ecuador,  Venezuela,  Salvador,  Bo- 
livia and  Chile  covenanting  to  defend  their  own  political  life 
and  their  national  integrity,  to  agree  to  compulsory  arbitra- 
tion, reciprocal  commercial,  navigation  and  postal  exchange, 
was  the  final  decision  of  this  powerful  gathering  of  peoples. 
But  the  governments  seem  to  have  paid  no  more  heed  to 
this  congress  than  to  the  one  at  Panama  and  the  first  one  at 
Lima,  so  that  the  proposals  were  not  formally  accepted  by  a 
single  country. 

VARIOUS  OTHER  EFFORTS  AT  UNITY 

Peru  and  Chile  entered  into  an  offensive  and  defensive 
treaty  in  1865,  because  of  the  threat  of  Spain  to  reconquer 
her  Pacific  colonies.  Ecuador  and  Bolivia  later  joined  in 
the  pact,  which  found  a practical  application  when  Spain  did 
actually  attempt  to  reconquer  these  countries,  and  they  were 
called  to  a common  defense  of  their  sovereignty. 

On  May  18,  1867,  while  still  at  war  with  Spain,  a treaty 
was  signed  at  Lima  between  Chile,  Ecuador  and  Bolivia 
relating  to  questions  of  international  law.  The  unity  of 
Central  America  was  the  object  of  many  efforts  during  this 
period,  as  it  has  continued  to  be  up  to  the  present.  In  1876 
Guatemala  convoked  a Central-American  congress  for  this 
purpose,  but  owing  to  an  outbreak  of  war  between  that  coun- 
try and  Salvador  the  invitations  were  withdrawn  and  the 
congress  was  held  on  the  20th  of  January,  1887.  As  a result 
of  that  conference  others  were  celebrated  in  Costa  Rica  in 
1888,  and  in  Salvador  in  1889,  when  the  idea  of  organizing 
the  republics  of  Central  America  was  further  discussed. 

As  the  eminent  jurist,  Alejandro  Alvarez,  says : 


120 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


“The  states  of  Latin  America,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
they  had  abandoned  by  this  time  the  idea  of  a confederation, 
continued  to  consider  themselves  as  a family  of  nations,  in 
which  friendly  relationships,  close  commercial  intercourse 
and  a consensus  of  agreement  on  external  policy  should 
exist.” 

In  short,  Senor  Alvarez  declares  that  the  idea  of  solidar- 
ity did  not  disappear,  but  assumed  a more  practical  aspect  in 
conformity  with  the  international  life  of  these  countries. 
This  interpretation  is  confirmed  by  the  fact  that  there  as- 
sembled in  Lima  Dec.  9,  1877,  by  the  invitation  of  the 
Peruvian  government,  an  American  congress  of  jurists  to 
unify  the  principles  of  private  international  law.  There  were 
present  representatives  from  Argentina,  Bolivia,  Chile,  Ecua- 
dor, Peru,  Colombia,  Guatemala,  Honduras  and  Venezuela. 
This  congress  agreed  upon  two  conventions,  one  relating  to 
private  international  law  and  the  other  to  extradition.  The 
meeting  had  a sad  ending,  when  its  sessions  were  interrupted 
by  Chile’s  forces  capturing  and  sacking  the  city  of  Lima. 

From  1866  to  1872,  which  covered  the  period  of  the  war 
between  Spain  and  the  republics  of  Peru,  Chile,  Bolivia  and 
Ecuador,  the  remarkable  and  successful  efforts  at  mediation 
of  the  United  States  between  Spain  and  these  republics  form 
one  of  the  most  noteworthy  events  in  the  history  of  Pan 
Americanism.  The  final  and  definite  conference,  called  for 
the  purpose  indicated,  took  place  at  Washington  on  October 
29,  1870,  under  the  presidency  of  Mr.  Fish,  then  Secretary 
of  State:  On  April  11,  1871,  an  armistice  was  signed,  which 
“armistice  or  truce”  was  to  “continue  indefinitely.”  Under 
the  terms  of  this  armistice  hostilities  might  not  be  resumed 
by  either  of  the  belligerents  “save  three  years  after  having 
expressly  and  explicitly  notified  the  other.” 

In  1880  Colombia  invited  the  republics  of  America  to  a 
congress  to  meet  at  Panama  in  1881  for  the  purpose  of  secur- 
ing the  adhesion  of  these  republics  to  the  principle  of  arbi- 
tration incorporated  in  a convention  which  Colombia  had 
celebrated  with  Chile.  All  the  countries  invited,  except 
Mexico  and  Argentina,  accepted  the  invitation.  Owing, 
however,  to  the  fact  .nat  Chile  interpreted  the  objects  of  the 


EARLY  EFFORTS  TOWARD  PAN  AMERICANISM  121 


conference  as  constituting  a desire  to  intervene  in  that  coun- 
try’s external  policy,  a campaign  of  opposition  was  begun, 
with  the  result  that  when  the  congress  met,  there  were  only 
present  the  representatives  of  three  Central-American  re- 
publics. 

In  1883,  on  the  centenary  of  the  birth  of  Bolivar,  in  the 
city  of  Caracas,  the  representatives  of  Argentina,  Bolivia, 
Colombia,  Peru,  Salvador,  Mexico  and  Venezuela  signed  a 
convention  recommending  arbitration. 

In  1887-1888  there  were  convened  respectively  at  Rio  de 
Janeiro  and  Lima  two  sanitary  congresses,  Argentina,  Brazil 
and  Uruguay  being  represented  at  the  first  of  these,  and 
Bolivia,  Chile,  Ecuador  and  Peru  at  the  second. 

In  1888-1889  a congress  on  private  international  law  was 
held  at  Montevideo.  The  invitations  were  issued  jointly  by 
Argentina  and  Uruguay,  and,  besides  those  two  countries 
there  were  representatives  present  from  Bolivia,  Brazil, 
Chile,  Paraguay  and  Peru. 

Equally  important  with  these  various  conferences  in  show- 
ing the  earnest  desire  of  America  for  unity  is  the  long  list  of 
authors  and  statesmen  who  have  worked  incessantly  for 
this  great  idea.  Vicuna  Mackenna  in  his  “Estudios  His- 
toricos”  gives  a list  of  thirty  well-known  publicists,  along 
with  their  contributions  to  the  subject.  These  men  differed 
very  widely  in  their  plans  and  in  their  inclusion  or  exclusion 
of  the  United  States,  Brazil  and  Europe  in  connection  with 
the  federation,  but  they  all  firmly  believed  in  the  necessity 
of  American  solidarity. 

Among  the  best  of  these  studies  was  the  thesis  presented 
by  the  celebrated  Argentine  statesman,  Juan  Bautista  Al- 
berdi,  to  the  University  of  Santiago,  Chile,  as  a requirement 
for  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws.  He  outlined  the  follow- 
ing subjects  as  those  which  ought  to  be  discussed  by  a Pan 
American  Congress: 

1.  First,  adjustment  of  boundaries  between  the  Ameri- 
can states ; 

2.  The  regulation  of  maritime  and  river  traffic; 

3.  Protection  of  commerce; 

4.  Unifying  customs  duties; 


122 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


5.  Uniformity  in  currency,  weights  and  measures; 

6.  Uniformity  in  banking  arrangements ; 

7.  Foundation  of  a bank  for  public  credit  for  the  con- 
tinent ; 

8.  Validation  of  incorporation; 

9.  Validation  of  scientific  and  professional  diplomas; 

10.  Copyrights; 

11.  Construction  of  international  railroads; 

12.  Postal  unions; 

13.  Extradition  of  criminals; 

14.  Limitation  of  armies; 

15.  Establishment  of  an  international  court  of  peace; 

16.  Determination  of  American  international  law; 

17.  Prevention  and  control  of  war; 

18.  Development  of  colonization; 

19.  Construction  of  a Trans- Andean  railroad. 

As  Mackenna  well  says,  as  he  refers  to  the  lack  of  practical 
accomplishments  favorable  to  unity:  “One  most  consoling 
conclusion  is  clear,  in  this  solemn  hour,  when  this  subject 
is  agitated  in  parliament  and  in  the  press,  and  has  become  a 
never-ending  study  for  youth — this  movement  for  unity  has 
been  maintained  without  faltering  from  the  first  years  of 
our  independence  until  the  present  day  (1862)  when  it  has 
become  a universal  American  agitation 

Ernesto  Quesada  of  Argentina  sums  up  these  conferences 
as  follows:  “These  conventions  remain  as  a monument  to 
the  honor  of  Bolivar  and  Latin  America  as  heralds  of  the 
lofty  aspirations  which  they  embody;  and  the  republics  of 
the  New  Continent,  true  to  them,  have  generally  followed 
the  principle  of  arbitration  for  the  settlement  of  interna- 
tional disputes.” 

Dr.  Francisco  Castaneda  of  Salvador,  who  has  just 
made  (1920)  a most  interesting  study  of  these  efforts  at 
American  unity,  says : 

“Such  has  been  the  process  by  means  of  which  in  evolu- 
tionary growth  across  the  years  and  under  the  influence  of 
diverse  elements  and  circumstances,  American  friendship  has 
developed.  Born  because  of  natural  desires,  with  a common 
perspective  of  fear,  it  has  received  a healthful  expansion  in 


EARLY  EFFORTS  TOWARD  PAN  AMERICANISM  123 


searching  for  the  realization  of  the  ideals  of  modern  inter- 
national law.  That  which  in  its  origin  was  the  aspiration  of 
a race  at  present  is  the  bond  of  union  and  obligatory  pro- 
gram of  all  the  countries  of  the  continent  without  reference 
to  the  various  ethnic  factors  nor  to  the  distinct  sociological 
conditions. 

“Pan  Americanism  has  enlarged  the  political  horizon  and 
amplified  its  forms  so  that  it  now  embraces  every  subject 
that  refers  to  prosperity  and  the  development  of  the  peoples 
of  the  western  hemisphere.  Complying  with  that  is  the  most 
far-reaching  interpretation  of  Mr.  James  Blaine’s  declara- 
tion at  the  inauguration  of  the  first  congress,  so  beautifully 
interpreted  and  broadened  by  Secretary  of  State  Elihu  Root, 
at  the  Third  Pan  American  Conference  in  Rio  de  Janeiro, 
and  a few  days  afterwards  in  Buenos  Aires,  when  he  said: 
‘We  do  not  make  alliances.  This  is  our  traditional  attitude 
which  we  received  from  George  Washington  and  which  his 
successors  have  respected  always.  But  there  are  alliances 
which,  although  they  are  not  derived  from  written  docu- 
ments and  treaties,  are  very  formal  ones.  We  have  thus  an 
alliance  with  our  sister  nations  upon  this  continent,  one  of 
sentiment,  of  fraternity,  of  the  common  prosecution  of  the 
ideals  of  liberty  and  justice,  one  which  seeks  a common  good 
for  all.’ 

“Here  is  the  synthesis  of  the  new  policy.  Here  is  the  new 
and  important  phase  of  the  subject  which  should  be  consid- 
ered. Partial  alliances  have  no  reason  for  existing.  Those 
that  are  necessary,  those  which  duty  imposes  upon  us  and 
which  must  be  fought  for  at  all  times,  are  those  which  unite 
in  a strong  embrace  and  by  a common  law  all  the  peoples 
of  the  continent.  This  is  the  elevated  point  of  view  taken  by 
thinkers  and  statesmen,  and  on  the  success  of  which  depends 
the  developmenl  of  continental  policies  and  universal  good 
will.” 

Sources  of  Further  Information  on  Early  Efforts  Toward 
Pan  Americanism 

Aranda,  Ricardo:  Congresos  y Conferencias  Internacionales  en 
que  ha  tornado  parte  el  Peru. 


124 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


Calderon,  F.  GarcIa:  La  Creacion  de  un  Continente. 

Candler  : Inter- American  Acquaintances. 

Castaneda,  Francisco:  Nuevos  Estudios. 

Lockey,  Jos.  : Pan  Americanism,  Its  Beginnings. 

Maurtura,  Anibal:  La  Idea  Pan  Americana  y la  Cuestion  del 
Arbitraje. 

Moore,  John  B.:  American  Diplomacy,  Chapter  on  Pan  Ameri- 
canism. 

O’Leary,  Daniel  F. : El  Congreso  Internacional  de  Panama  en 
1S26. 

O’Leary,  Daniel  F. : Bolivar. 

Quesada,  Ernesto:  La  Evolucion  del  Panamericanismo. 

Robertson,  Wm.  Spence:  Rise  of  Spanish  American  Republics, 
Chap.  VII. 

Urutia,  Francisco  Jose:  Los  Estados  Unidos  de  America  y las 
Republicas,  Hispano  Americanas,  de  1810  a 1830. 

Files  of  “Inter-America”  contain  valuable  material  on  this  subject. 


Chapter  IV 


EARLY  EFFORTS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 
TOWARD  AMERICAN  FRIENDSHIP 

We  have  seen  in  former  chapters  that  the  leaders  of  His- 
panic America  during  their  struggle  for  independence  and 
the  development  of  their  national  life  thought  much  of  con- 
tinental solidarity,  and  regarded  so  highly  the  United  States 
that  they  modeled  their  governments  after  that  of  the  re- 
public of  the  north.  We  now  come  to  look  at  the  other  side 
of  the  shield  and  inquire  concerning  the  attitude  of  the 
United  States  towards  Hispanic  America. 

It  is  of  greatest  importance  to  clear  up  this  matter  because 
many  Latin  American  leaders,  especially  during  the  last 
twenty-five  years  when  the  prejudice  toward  the  United 
States  has  been  most  largely  developed,  have  claimed  that 
the  United  States,  if  not  hostile  to  Hispanic  American  in- 
dependence, at  least  did  nothing  to  aid  it.  Such  writers  as 
President  Saenz  Pena  of  Argentina,  Pardo  of  Brazil  and 
Fombona  of  Venezuela  have  made  much  of  this  argument 
in  their  general  program  of  opposition  to  this  country. 

Some  twenty  years  ago  the  Mexican  Ambassador,  Matias 
Romero,  wrote  an  article  in  The  North  American  Review 
that  attracted  wide  attention.  In  it  he  took  the  ground  that 
the  United  States  did  not  render  either  material  or  moral  as- 
sistance to  the  Spanish  colonies  in  their  struggle  for  inde- 
pendence. Senator  Mooney,  of  Mississippi,  answered  the 
paper,  expressing  the  feelings  of  most  North  Americans 
when  he  said  that  Romero’s  contention  left  a disagreeable 
impression  on  the  minds  of  North  Americans,  who  gloried 
in  the  fact  that  their  government  had  always  sympathized 
with  peoples  struggling  for  liberty,  and  especially  so  in  re- 
gard to  the  peoples  on  this  continent. 

125 


126 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


PERIOD  OF  BENEVOLENT  NEUTRALITY 

While  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  young  and  compara- 
tively weak  government  of  the  United  States  found  it  wiser 
to  declare  officially  her  neutrality  in  the  war  between  Spain 
and  her  colonies,  this  was  not  due  to  any  lack  of  sympathy 
with  the  colonies  but  to  the  policy  adopted  on  the  advice  of 
Washington  concerning  “entangling  alliances,”  which  was 
from  the  first  interpreted  to  include  non-intervention  in 
other  nations’  affairs  and  non-participation  in  arrangements 
between  other  governments.  The  case  of  Great  Britain, 
which  some  of  the  Latin  American  historians  praise  for  her 
help  as  much  as  they  condemn  the  United  States  for  her  lack 
of  it,  was  entirely  different.  She  was  playing  the  game  of 
world  politics  and  she  had  her  own  purposes  to  fulfill  in 
encouraging  the  patriotic  cause  in  the  Spanish  colonies,  as 
is  well  revealed  by  the  boast  of  Canning,  idle  as  it  was,  when 
he  said  that  he  had  brought  a new  world  into  existence  to 
redress  the  balance  of  the  old.  The  United  States  was  work- 
ing from  just  exactly  the  opposite  motive — to  keep  America 
out  of  the  eternal  question  of  the  balance  of  power  in  Europe 
and  have  it  develop  along  its  own  distinct  democratic  lines. 
Time  has  shown  that  the  young  and  weak  government  of  the 
United  States  rendered  its  best  service  to  its  southern  neigh- 
bors by  saving  its  strength  to  protect  all  America  from 
Europe,  rather  than  by  rendering  some  little  ineffectual  aid 
to  the  Spanish  colonies,  who,  it  was  evident,  would  be  able  to 
gain  their  freedom  unassisted. 

The  neutrality  declared  was  indeed  a benevolent  neutral- 
ity, similar  to  the  one  declared  in  the  first  part  of  the  recent 
World  War,  when  the  liberal  forces  could  count  on  much 
help  from  the  United  States.  The  various  steps  openly 
taken  and  the  frank  avowals  of  sympathy  by  the  United 
States  Government  for  the  southern  colonies,  confirm  the 
deep  interest  felt  in  their  welfare  and  the  hopes  for  success 
in  their  fight  for  independence.  This  sympathy  was  so  clear 
to  Spain  that  she  made  it  the  reason  for  delaying  several 
years  the  signing  of  the  treaty  which  conveyed  Florida  to  the 
United  States.  Indeed  President  Monroe  at  one  time  con- 
fessed that,  from  the  first,  the  struggle  was  regarded  “not 


EARLY  EFFORTS  TOWARD  FRIENDSHIP  127 


in  the  light  of  an  ordinary  insurrection  or  rebellion,  but  as  a 
civil  war  between  parties  nearly  equal,  having  as  to  neutral 
powers,  equal  rights.” 

One  of  the  first  approaches  toward  the  great  subject  oi 
American  solidarity  that  history  reveals  to  us  was  that  of  a 
Brazilian  student  named  Maia,  to  Thomas  Jefferson  in  1787, 
when  both  were  in  Paris.  Maia  was  one  of  a company  of 
conspirators  who  were  planning  the  independence  of  Brazil. 
In  appealing  to  Jefferson  to  help  Brazil,  this  young  student 
struck  the  keynote  of  Pan  Americanism,  which  in  spite  of 
many  vicissitudes,  was  to  ring  through  all  time.  The  United 
States  should  be  their  natural  friend,  said  Maia,  “because 
nature  in  making  us  inhabitants  of  the  same  continent  has  in 
some  way  united  us  in  the  bonds  of  a common  patriotism.” 
Even  before  this  a Mexican  had  spoken  to  Jefferson  about 
a possible  revolution  in  Mexico,  which  drew  from  our  repre- 
sentative the  following,  written  to  his  friend  Jay:  “However 
distant  we  may  be,  both  in  condition  and  disposition,  from 
taking  an  active  part  in  any  commotion  in  that  country, 
nature  has  placed  it  too  near  to  us  to  make  its  movements 
altogether  indifferent  to  our  interests.”  This  beginning  of 
interest  in  Hispanic  American  affairs  grew  steadily  with  Jef- 
ferson until  it  became  one  of  the  outstanding  interests  of  his 
life. 

The  friendship  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  was 
shown  by  the  help  that  Hamilton  gave  Miranda,  the  fore- 
runner of  South  American  independence,  when  he  came  to 
the  United  States  in  1805  to  fit  out  an  expedition  to  free  the 
South  American  colonies.  He  received  at  least  enough  en- 
couragement from  President  Jefferson,  who  had  already 
shown  his  strong  faith  in  the  great  future  of  the  American 
continent,  to  write  the  President,  “If  the  happy  prediction 
which  you  pronounced  upon  the  future  destinies  of  our  dear 
Colombia  is  to  be  accomplished  in  our  day,  may  Providence 
grant  that  it  may  be  under  your  auspices.”  Two  years  later 
Jefferson  appointed  a special  agent,  Gen.  James  Wilkinson, 
to  visit  at  least  Mexico  and  Cuba  to  thus  demonstrate  the 
interest  of  the  United  States  in  its  southern  neighbors. 

Writing  about  this  same  time  to  Governor  Claiborne  of 
Louisiana  Jefferson  said,  “The  truth  is  that  the  patriots  of 


128 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


Spain  have  no  warmer  friends  than  the  administration  of 
the  United  States.  * * * We  consider  their  interests  and 
ours  as  the  same,  and  the  object  of  both  must  be  to  exclude 
all  European  influence  from  this  hemisphere.” 

It  was  the  year  1810,  the  most  memorable  in  the  annals  of 
Hispanic  America,  that  brought  a definite  open  movement  by 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  to  form  closer  relations 
with  the  Spanish  colonies.  In  that  year  revolts  from  Spain 
were  formally  declared  in  Venezuela,  Argentina  and  Mexico. 
When  news  of  these  reached  Washington  President  Madi- 
son appointed  Joel  R.  Poinsett,  a brilliant  politician  of  South 
Carolina  who  was  destined  to  play  a prominent  part  in  inter- 
American  relations  for  the  next  twenty  years,  to  visit  Buenos 
Aires  and  probably  Chile  and  Peru  on  a friendly  mission. 
Because  this  appointment  marks  a new  departure  in  the  for- 
eign policy  of  the  United  States,  it  seems  well  to  give  here 
his  letter  of  instructions,  dated  June  28,  1810,  and  written 
by  Secretary  of  State  James  Monroe  as  follows : 

“As  a crisis  is  approaching  which  must  produce  great 
changes  in  the  situation  of  Spanish  America,  and  may  dis- 
solve altogether  its  colonial  relations  to  Europe,  and  as  the 
geographical  position  of  the  United  States,  and  other  obvious 
considerations,  give  them  an  intimate  interest  in  whatever 
may  affect  the  destiny  of  that  part  of  the  American  Conti- 
nent, it  is  our  duty  to  turn  our  attention  to  this  important 
subject,  and  to  take  such  steps,  not  incompatible  with  the 
neutral  character  and  honest  policy  of  the  United  States, 
as  the  occasion  renders  proper.  With  this  in  view,  you  have 
been  selected  to  proceed,  without  delay,  to  Buenos  Aires. 
You  will  make  it  your  object,  whenever  it  may  be  proper,  to 
diffuse  the  impression  that  the  United  States  cherish  the 
sincerest  good  will  toward  the  people  of  Spanish  America  as 
neighbors,  as  belonging  to  the  same  portion  of  the  globe  and 
as  having  a mutual  interest  in  cultivating  friendly  inter- 
course ; that  this  disposition  will  exist  whatever  may  be  their 
internal  system  or  European  relation,  with  respect  to  which 
no  interference  of  any  sort  is  pretended;  and  that,  in  the 
event  of  a political  separation  from  the  parent  country,  and 
of  the  establishment  of  an  independent  system  of  national 


EARLY  EFFORTS  TOWARD  FRIENDSHIP  129 


government,  it  will  coincide  with  the  sentiments  and  policy 
of  the  United  States  to  promote  the  most  friendly  relations, 
and  the  most  liberal  intercourse,  between  the  inhabitants  of 
this  hemisphere,  as  having  all  a common  interest,  and  as 
lying  under  a common  obligation  to  maintain  that  system  of 
peace,  justice  and  good  will,  which  is  the  only  source  or  hap- 
piness for  nations. 

“Whilst  you  inculcate  these  as  the  principles  and  disposi- 
tions of  the  United  States,  it  will  be  no  less  proper  to  ascer- 
tain those  on  the  other  side,  not  only  toward  the  United 
States,  but  in  reference  to  the  great  nations  of  Europe,  and 
to  the  commercial  and  other  connections  with  them,  respec- 
tively ; and,  generally,  to  inquire  into  the  state,  the  character- 
istics, and  the  proportions,  as  to  numbers,  intelligence,  and 
wealth,  of  the  several  parties,  the  amount  of  population,  the 
extent  and  organization  of  the  military  force,  and  the  pecu- 
niary resources  of  the  country. 

“The  real  as  well  as  ostensible  object  of  your  mission  is  to 
explain  the  mutual  advantages  of  commerce  with  the  United 
States,  to  promote  liberal  and  stable  regulations,  and  to  trans- 
mit reasonable  information  on  the  subject.  In  order  that 
you  may  render  the  more  service  in  this  respect,  and  that  you 
may,  at  the  same  time,  enjoy  the  greater  protection  and  re- 
spectability, you  will  be  furnished  with  a credential  letter, 
such  as  is  held  by  sundry  agents  of  the  United  States  in  the 
West  Indies,  and  as  was  lately  held  by  one  at  Havana,  and 
under  the  sanction  of  which  you  will  give  the  requisite  at- 
tention to  commercial  objects.” 

That  the  appointment  of  Poinsett  was  appreciated  and 
remembered  is  seen  in  the  following  which  appeared  in  La 
Prensa,  of  Buenos  Aires,  on  the  occasion  of  the  visit  of  the 
United  States  battleships  to  that  city  in  the  critical  days  of 
1917: 

“Economic  relations,  liberal  and  ample,  were  initiated  in 
1810  between  the  United  States  and  the  River  Plate.  Since 
then  the  Spanish  colonies  in  their  struggle  for  independence 
have  not  lacked  the  help  and  moral  support  of  the  Union, 
although  at  certain  times  the  necessities  of  European  poli- 


ISO 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


tics  compelled  the  withholding  of  practical  help.  The  per- 
severing work  of  eminent  men  always  advanced  the  cause 
and  culminated  in  the  recognition  of  our  independence,  fol- 
lowed by  the  proclamation  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine.  The 
attitude  recently  proclaimed  by  President  Wilson  in  his  im- 
mortal message  in  regard  to  Pan  Americanism  is  the  same 
that  moved  the  Union  to  send  an  agent  to  Buenos  Aires  in 
1810  to  cut  across  the  plans  of  the  Holy  Alliance  and  to 
prevent  the  invasion  and  conquest  of  America  in  1823. 
Behold  the  hand  of  Argentina  now  extended  in  this  crisis, 
marking  her  frank  adhesion  to  the  attitude  of  the  great 
Republic  of  the  North.” 

Poinsett  also  went  to  Chile,  where  he  was  received  with 
the  greatest  enthusiasm,  President  Carrera  welcoming  him 
in  a speech  which  was  filled  with  admiration  of  the  United 
States.  Poinsett,  in  reply,  said  that  the  Americans  of  the 
North  had  the  deepest  interest  in  the  events  taking  place  in 
these  countries  and  ardently  desired  the  prosperity  and  hap- 
piness of  their  southern  brethren,  and  that  he  would  inform 
his  government  about  the  desire  of  his  Excellency  for 
friendly  relations,  considering  it  a great  honor  to  be  the  first 
to  establish  relationships  between  these  two  nations,  which 
should  be  united  as  friends  and  allies. 

Robert  K.  Lowry  was  sent  about  the  same  time  to  Vene- 
zuela, where  he  counseled  the  leaders  of  the  incipient  democ- 
racy in  their  first  attempts  in  republican  government.  He 
remained  in  Venezuela  until  independence  was  secured,  en- 
gaging in  business  afterward  until  his  death. 

Thomas  Sumter,  a third  agent,  appointed  by  Madison  at 
this  time,  was  received  at  Petropolis  by  the  Prince  Regent, 
John  VI,  as  United  States  Minister  to  Brazil.  This  marked 
the  beginning  of  a century  of  close  relations  with  Brazil. 
The  Brazilian  representative  to  Washington,  Jose  M.  de 
Camara,  was  received  May  13,  1810.  Brazil  was  the  first 
American  power  to  endorse  the  Monroe  Doctrine  and  on 
the  other  hand  the  United  States  was  the  first  foreign  power 
to  recognize  the  Empire  of  Brazil,  May  26,  1824,  a year  and 
a half  after  its  independence  was  declared. 


EARLY  EFFORTS  TOWARD  FRIENDSHIP  131 


As  the  well-known  Brazilian  internationalist,  Pereira 
Pinto,  said  in  1865 : “It  was  the  North  American  Republic 
that  first  recognized  the  independence  of  Brazil.  Great 
Britain  was  impelled  to  favor  our  freedom  because  of  her 
liberal  system  of  government  and  her  tenacious  aspirations 
to  abolish  slavery,  but  hesitated  to  do  so  because  of  her 
historic  and  faithful  ally,  Portugal.  The  United  States 
consequently  with  that  clear  attitude  which  they  had  adopted 
toward  all  the  American  peoples  that  had  separated  them- 
selves from  the  metropolis,  extended  us  a brotherly  hand  and 
invited  us  to  take  our  place  at  the  council  table  of  the  nations 
of  the  globe.  Let  us  give,  then,  a vote  of  gratitude  to  this 
people,  the  most  powerful  nation  of  the  New  World.” 

On  January  15,  1811,  the  Congress  of  the  United  States 
of  America,  acting  in  response  to  a secret  message  of  Presi- 
dent Madison  regarding  the  occupation  of  the  Floridas, 
passed  in  secret  session  the  following  resolution  which  was 
one  of  the  numerous  forerunners  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine : 

“Taking  into  view  the  peculiar  situation  of  Spain  and  of 
her  American  provinces ; and  considering  the  influence  which 
the  destiny  of  the  territory  adjoining  the  southern  border  of 
the  United  States  may  have  on  their  security,  tranquillity, 
and  commerce, — 

“Resolved,  That  the  United  States,  under  the  peculiar 
circumstances  of  the  existing  crises  cannot,  without  serious 
inquietude,  see  any  part  of  the  said  territory  pass  into  the 
hands  of  any  foreign  power ; and  that  a due  regard  to  their 
own  safety  compels  them  to  provide,  under  certain  contin- 
gencies, for  the  temporary  occupation  of  the  said  territory.” 

President  Madison  was  always  friendly  toward  his  south- 
ern neighbors.  In  determining  his  attitude  toward  the  in- 
creasingly difficult  international  questions  he  seemed  always 
to  take  into  his  perspective  the  whole  continent.  In  his 
annual  message  to  Congress  on  November  5,  1811,  Presi- 
dent Madison  declared  that  attention  must  be  given  to  the 
scenes  “developing  themselves  among  the  great  communities 
which  occupy  the  southern  portion  of  our  own  hemisphere 


132 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


and  extend  into  our  own  neighborhood.  An  enlarged  phi- 
lanthropy and  an  enlightened  forecast  concur  in  imposing 
on  the  national  councils  an  obligation  to  take  a deep  interest 
in  their  destinies,  to  cherish  reciprocal  sentiments  of  good 
will,  to  regard  the  progress  of  events  and  not  to  be  unpre- 
pared for  whatever  order  of  things  may  be  ultimately  estab- 
lished.” 

As  a result  of  President  Madison’s  message  the  first  reso- 
lution of  sympathy  for  Latin  America  ever  offered  in  a 
foreign  legislature  was  passed  by  the  United  States  Congress 
on  December  io,  1811.  It  was  as  follows: 

“Whereas,  Several  of  the  American  Spanish  Provinces 
have  represented  to  the  United  States  that  it  has  been  found 
expedient  for  them  to  associate  and  form  federal  govern- 
ments upon  the  elective  and  representative  plan,  and  to  de- 
clare themselves  free  and  independent ; Therefore  be  it 

“Resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 
of  the  United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That 
they  behold  with  friendly  interest,  the  establishment  of  in- 
dependent sovereignties  by  the  Spanish  Provinces  in  Amer- 
ica, consequent  upon  the  actual  state  of  monarchy  to  which 
they  belong;  that  as  neighbors  and  inhabitants  of  the  same 
hemisphere,  the  United  States  feel  great  solicitude  for  their 
welfare;  and  that,  when  these  Provinces  shall  have  attained 
the  conditions  of  nations,  by  the  just  exercise  of  their  rights, 
the  Senate  and  the  House  will  unite  with  the  Executive  in 
establishing  with  them,  as  sovereign  and  independent  states, 
such  amicable  relations  and  commercial  intercourse  as  may 
require  their  legislative  authority.” 

Throughout  all  the  fluctuations  of  the  patriot  cause  in 
Spanish  America,  in  the  years  immediately  following,  in 
spite  of  its  own  severe  difficulties,  the  government  of  the 
United  States  maintained  a keen  interest  in  the  struggle.  In 
1817  a commission  composed  of  Messrs.  Rodney,  Graham 
and  Bland  went  to  Buenos  Aires  under  instructions  which 
appropriately  described  the  policy  of  the  United  States  at 
that  time.  These  instructions  were: 


EARLY  EFFORTS  TOWARD  FRIENDSHIP  133 


“It  is  by  success  that  the  colonies  acquire  new  claims  on 
other  powers  which  it  may  comport  neither  with  their  in- 
terest nor  duty  to  disregard.  Several  of  the  colonies  having 
declared  their  independence  and  enjoyed  it  for  some  years, 
and  the  authority  of  Spain  being  shaken  in  others,  it  seems 
probable  that,  if  the  parties  be  left  to  themselves,  the  most 
permanent  political  changes  will  be  effected.  It  therefore 
seems  incumbent  on  the  United  States  to  watch  the  move- 
ment in  its  subsequent  steps  with  particular  attention,  with 
a view  to  pursue  such  course  as  a just  regard  for  all  those 
considerations  which  they  are  bound  to  respect  may  dictate.” 

In  spite  of  her  deep  sympathies  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment did  not  recognize  the  new  Republics  until  1822. 
The  matter  of  recognition  of  the  struggling  colonies  by  a 
country  which  was  itself  cordially  hated  by  the  reactionary 
monarchical  governments  of  Europe  was  not  the  simple 
question  it  would  be  today.  While  after  a hundred  years  it 
is  easy  to  criticise  the  United  States  for  slowness  in  action, 
yet  a careful  study  of  all  sides  of  the  case  seems  to  give  no 
evidence  to  question  the  friendship  for  Hispanic  America, 
even  if  wise  caution  were  used,  caution  which  no  doubt  in 
the  long  run  strengthened  all  America  in  maintaining  its  in- 
dependence of  Europe. 

The  first  agent  to  visit  the  United  States  to  seek  recogni- 
tion for  a Latin  American  nation  which  had  declared  its 
independence  was  Teles foro  de  Orea.  He  was  appointed  by 
the  new  Venezuelan  government  on  July  24,  181 1,  its  special 
agent  to  the  United  States  to  inform  that  government  of  the 
declaration  of  independence  by  the  “United  Provinces  of 
Venezuela”  and  to  solicit  the  recognition  of  the  new  state. 

This  action  by  Venezuela  served  to  place  more  promi- 
nently before  the  government  and  people  of  the  United  States 
the  struggle  for  independence  of  their  Southern  neighbors 
and  brought  out  many  expressions  of  sympathy. 

Notwithstanding  the  deep  appreciation  of  her  heroic  strug- 
gles, Orea’s  note  of  November  6,  1811,  to  the  Secretary  of 
State  expressing  the  hope  that  the  United  States  would 
acknowledge  the  independence  of  Venezuela  did  not  meet 
with  an  immediate  response.  Monroe,  who  was  then  the 


134 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


Secretary  of  State,  realized  that  it  would  cause  an  unfavor- 
able reaction,  both  on  his  own  government  and  the  Venezue- 
lan cause  if  after  a premature  recognition  Spain  should 
later  succeed  in  reconquering  her  territory.  His  cautious 
policy  was  soon  justified  for  in  July,  1812,  Miranda  met  a 
decided  defeat  at  the  hands  of  the  royalist  commander, 
Monteverde,  and  Venezuela  again  was  ruled  by  Spain  until 
Bolivar  organized  a new  revolution  and  by  his  astounding 
success  gained  the  title  of  Liberator. 

The  next  country,  following  Venezuela,  to  ask  recognition 
was  the  United  Provinces  of  La  Plata.  Secretary  of  State 
Adams,  fresh  from  an  extended  diplomatic  experience  in 
Europe,  where  he  had  learned  much  of  Europe’s  designs  on 
all  America,  felt  it  was  not  expedient  for  the  President  to 
acknowledge  their  independence  at  that  time  and  induced 
him  on  several  occasions  to  assume  a conservative  attitude 
toward  the  new  states  of  Latin  America.  In  a letter  to 
President  Monroe  in  August,  1818,  Adams  expresses  his 
idea  of  the  principles  upon  which  the  government  should 
act,  in  these  words : 

“But  there  is  a stage  in  such  contests  when  the  parties 
struggling  for  independence  have,  as  I conceive,  a right  to 
demand  its  acknowledgment  by  neutral  parties,  and  when 
the  acknowledgment  may  be  granted  without  departure 
from  the  obligations  of  neutrality.  It  is  the  stage  when  in- 
dependence is  established  as  a matter  of  fact  so  as  to  leave 
the  chance  of  the  opposite  party  to  recover  their  dominion 
utterly  desperate.  The  neutral  nation  must,  of  course, 
judge  for  itself  when  this  period  has  arrived;  and  as  the 
belligerent  nation  has  the  same  right  to  judge  for  itself,  it 
is  very  likely  to  judge  differently  from  the  neutral  and  to 
make  it  a cause  or  pretext  for  war.  * * * If  war  thus  results 
in  point  of  fact  from  the  measure  of  recognizing  a contested 
independence,  the  moral  right  or  wrong  of  the  war  depends 
upon  the  justice,  and  sincerity,  and  prudence  with  which  the 
recognizing  nation  took  the  step.  I am  satisfied  that  the 
cause  of  the  South  Americans,  so  far  as  It  consists  in  the 
assertion  of  independence  against  Spain,  is  just.  But  the 
justice  of  a cause,  however  it  may  enlist  individual  feelings 


EARLY  EFFORTS  TOWARD  FRIENDSHIP  135 


in  its  favor,  is  not  sufficient  to  justify  third  parties  in  siding 
with  it.  The  fact  and  the  right  combined  can  alone  authorize 
a neutral  to  acknowledge  a new  and  disputed  sovereignty.” 

THE  FIGHT  FOR  RECOGNITION 

If  Adams  can  be  charged  with  being  too  cautious,  because 
of  his  European  experience,  the  United  States  held  another 
great  soul,  sufficiently  daring,  sufficiently  far-seeing  to  vie 
with  the  great  Bolivar  himself  in  his  faith  in  the  great 
future  before  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  colonies,  and 
willing  to  stake  his  all  and  that  of  his  country  in  backing 
their  struggle  for  independence.  That  man  was  the  idol  of 
the  western  frontier  state  of  Kentucky,  Henry  Clay.  The 
work  of  that  great  man  for  Pan  American  friendship  and 
solidarity  must  ever  be  one  of  the  glories  of  the  early  history 
of  the  United  States  and  the  inspiration  of  all  who  strive  for 
common  understandings  and  common  ideals  for  all  America. 
For  ten  years  he  labored  incessantly  for  recognition  by  the 
United  States  and  European  governments  of  the  cause  of 
the  Spanish- American  patriots.  As  early  as  1816,  while 
the  struggle  for  freedom  was  at  its  height  in  several  of  the 
Spanish  colonies,  Clay,  who  was  at  the  time  Speaker  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  opposed  the  reduction  of  certain 
taxes  which  had  been  levied  by  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment as  a result  of  the  War  of  1812,  on  the  ground  that 
“The  United  States  might  have  openly  to  take  part  with  the 
patriots  of  South  America.” 

In  an  eloquent  speech  on  March  25,  1818,  in  the  debate 
upon  his  proposal  to  appropriate  money  for  a minister  to 
the  United  Provinces  of  La  Plata,  he  called  attention  to  the 
“immensity  and  character  of  the  country  which  Spain  was 
attempting  to  subjugate: 

“Stretching  on  the  Pacific  Ocean  from  about  the  40th 
degree  of  north  latitude  to  about  the  55th  degree  of  south 
latitude,  and  extending  from  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  del  Norte 
(exclusive  of  East  Florida)  around  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and 
along  the  South  Atlantic  to  near  Cape  Horn,  it  is  about  5,000 
miles  in  length,  and  in  some  places  near  3,000  in 


136 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


breadth.  Within  this  vast  region,  we  behold  the  most 
sublime  and  interesting  objects  of  creation;  the  loftiest 
mountains,  the  most  majestic  rivers  in  the  world;  the  richest 
mines  of  the  precious  metals,  and  the  choicest  productions 
of  the  earth.  We  behold  there  a spectacle  still  more  inter- 
esting and  sublime — the  glorious  spectacle  of  18  millions 
of  people,  struggling  to  burst  their  chains  and  to  be 
free. 

“In  the  establishment  of  the  independence  of  Spanish 
America,  the  United  States  have  the  deepest  interest.  I 
have  no  hesitation  in  asserting  my  firm  belief  that  there  is 
no  question  in  the  foreign  policy  of  this  country  which  has 
ever  arisen,  or  which  I can  conceive  as  ever  occurring,  in  the 
decision  of  which  we  have  had  or  can  have  so  much  at  stake. 
This  interest  concerns  our  politics,  our  commerce,  our  navi- 
gation. There  cannot  be  a doubt  that,  Spanish  America  once 
independent,  whatever  may  be  the  form  of  the  governments 
established  in  its  several  parts,  these  governments  will  be 
animated  by  an  American  feeling  and  guided  by  an  Ameri- 
can policy.  They  will  obey  the  laws  of  the  New  World,  of 
which  they  will  form  a part.  * * * 

“We  are  their  great  example.  Of  us  they  constantly  speak 
as  of  brothers,  having  a similar  origin.  They  adopt  our 
principles,  copy  our  institutions,  and  in  many  instances  em- 
ploy the  very  language  and  sentiments  of  our  revolutionary 
papers. 

“But  it  is  sometimes  said  that  they  are  too  ignorant  and 
too  superstitious  to  admit  of  the  existence  of  free  govern- 
ment. This  charge  of  ignorance  is  often  urged  by  persons 
themselves  actually  ignorant  of  the  real  condition  of  the 
people.  I deny  the  alleged  fact  of  ignorance ; I deny  the 
inference  from  that  fact,  if  it  were  true,  that  they  want 
capacity  for  free  government;  and  I refuse  assent  to  the 
further  conclusion,  if  the  fact  were  true,  and  the  inference 
just,  that  we  are  to  be  indifferent  to  their  fate.  All  the 
writers  of  the  most  established  authority,  Depons,  Hum- 
boldt, and  others,  concur  in  assigning  to  the  people  of  South 
America,  great  quickness,  genius,  and  particular  aptitude 
for  the  acquisition  of  the  exact  sciences,  and  others  which 
they  have  been  allowed  to  cultivate.  In  astronomy,  geology, 


EARLY  EFFORTS  TOWARD  FRIENDSHIP  137 


mineralogy,  chemistry,  botany,  and  so  forth,  they  are  al- 
lowed to  make  distinguished  proficiency.  They  justly  boast 
of  their  Abzate,  Velasques  and  Gama,  and  other  illustrious 
contributors  to  science.  They  have  nine  universities,  and 
in  the  City  of  Mexico,  it  is  affirmed  by  Humboldt  that  there 
are  more  solid  scientific  establishments  than  in  any  other 
city  even  in  North  America.  I would  refer  to  the  message 
of  the  Supreme  Director  of  La  Plata  (Pueyrredon)  as  a 
model  of  composition  of  a State  paper,  challenging  the  com- 
parison with  any,  the  most  celebrated,  that  ever  issued  from 
the  pens  of  Jefferson  or  Madison.  * * * 

“We  may  safely  trust  to  the  daring  enterprise  of  our  mer- 
chants. The  precious  metals  are  in  South  America,  and 
they  will  command  the  articles  wanted  in  South  America, 
which  will  purchase  them.  Our  navigation  will  be  bene- 
fited by  the  transportation,  and  our  country  will  realize  the 
mercantile  profits.  Already  the  item  in  our  exports  of 
American  manufacture  is  respectable.  They  go  chiefly  to  the 
West  Indies  and  to  South  America,  and  this  item  is  con- 
stantly augmenting.” 

On  May  io,  1820,  Clay  submitted  in  the  House  a reso- 
lution declaring  it  to  be  expedient  to  provide  by  law  for  the 
sending  of  ministers  to  any  of  the  governments  of  South 
America  that  had  established  and  were  maintaining  their 
independence  of  Spain.  In  the  eloquent  speech  with  which 
he  supported  this  proposal  he  did  not  hesitate  to  examine 
the  subject  in  all  its  phases.  Even  the  question  of  slavery, 
which  had  persistently  disturbed  the  debates  of  the  session, 
he  did  not  forbear  to  discuss.  Adverting  to  an  intimation 
that  the  people  of  South  America  were  “unfit  for  freedom,” 
he  affirmed  that  they  were  in  some  particulars  “in  advance 
of  us.”  In  one  particular  they  were  indeed  “greatly  in  ad- 
vance of  us”  ; that  was  that  “Granada,  Venezuela  and  Buenos 
Aires  had  all  emancipated  their  slaves.”  He  “rejoiced  that 
circumstances  were  such  as  to  permit  them  to  do  it.”  Nor 
had  they,  he  said,  neglected  education.  They  had  “fostered 
schools.”  Newspapers  were  numerous.  He  had,  he  af- 
firmed, never  seen  a “question  discussed  with  more  ability 
than  in  a newspaper  of  Buenos  Aires,  whether  a federative 


138 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


or  consolidated  form  of  government  was  best.”  Rising 
then  to  the  height  of  his  argument,  he  exclaimed : 

“It  is  in  our  power  to  create  a system  of  which  we  shall  be 
the  center,  and  in  which  all  South  America  will  act  with  us. 
In  respect  to  commerce,  we  should  be  most  benefited.  * * * 
We  should  become  the  center  of  a system  which  would  con- 
stitute the  rallying  point  of  human  wisdom  against  all  the 
despotism  of  the  Old  World.  * * * In  spite  of  our  coldness 
towards  them,  * * * I have  no  earthly  doubt,  if  our  govern- 
ment would  take  the  lead  and  recognize  them,  that  they 
would  become  yet  more  anxious  to  imitate  our  institutions, 
and  to  secure  to  themselves  and  to  their  posterity  the  same 
freedom  which  we  enjoy.” 

The  opinion  of  the  friends  of  freedom  in  Europe  was,  he 
declared,  that  the  policy  of  the  United  States  had  been  “cold, 
heartless,  and  indifferent  towards  the  greatest  cause  which 
could  possibly  engage  our  affections  and  enlist  our  feelings 
in  its  behalf.”  He  would  no  longer  justify  this  impression. 
He  would  break  the  commercial  and  political  fetters  by 
which  the  New  World  had  so  long  been  confined.  “Let  us,” 
he  exclaimed,  “become  real  and  true  Americans,  and  place 
ourselves  at  the  head  of  the  American  system.” 

Clay’s  resolution  was  carried  by  a vote  of  80  to  75.  The 
resolution,  however,  only  expressed  an  opinion  in  favor  of 
diplomatic  representation,  but  did  not  actually  provide  for 
it.  A year  later,  on  February  9,  1821,  a motion  for  a suit- 
able appropriation  was  lost  by  only  seven  votes.  On  the 
following  day,  however,  he  presented  a resolution  that  the 
House  “participates  with  the  people  of  the  United  States  in 
the  deep  interest  which  they  feel  for  the  success  of  the  Span- 
ish provinces  of  South  America,  which  are  struggling  to 
establish  their  liberty  and  independence ; and  that  it  will  give 
its  Constitutional  support  to  the  President  whenever  he 
shall  deem  it  expedient  to  recognize  the  sovereignty  and 
independence  of  any  of  the  said  provinces.” 

This  resolution  was  finally  carried  and  a committee  ap- 
pointed to  lay  the  matter  before  the  President. 


EARLY  EFFORTS  TOWARD  FRIENDSHIP  139 


The  long  struggle  was  ended  and  victory  was  won  by  this 
moderate  champion  of  Pan  Americanism! 

Monroe  considered  this  action  as  an  endorsement  of  the 
policy  which  his  administration  had  followed  and  stated  that 
“The  object  of  the  executive  has  been  to  throw  the  moral 
weight  of  the  United  States  into  the  scale  of  the  revolution- 
ary movement,  without  such  a deep  compromitment  as  to 
make  them  a party  on  that  side.  With  that  view  the  mis- 
sion to  Buenos  Aires  was  adopted,  all  the  messages  to  Con- 
gress were  drawn,  and  other  measures  have  been  since 
pursued.” 

RECOGNITION  AND  THE  PERIOD  OF  GOOD  WILL 

In  a special  message  to  Congress  on  March  8,  1822,  Presi- 
dent Monroe  reviewed  the  policy  of  the  United  States 
toward  the  Latin  American  revolution.  He  declared  that 
the  countries  of  La  Plata,  Chile,  Peru,  Colombia  and  Mexico 
were  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  their  independence ; that  there 
was  not  the  most  remote  prospect  of  their  being  deprived  of 
it ; and  that  the  new  governments  had  now  a claim  to  recog- 
nition by  other  powers,  which  ought  not  to  be  resisted. 
“When  we  regard,  then,  the  great  length  of  time  which  this 
war  has  been  prosecuted,  the  complete  success  which  has  at- 
tended it  in  favor  of  the  provinces,  the  present  condition  of 
the  parties,  and  the  utter  inability  of  Spain  to  produce  any 
change  in  it,  we  are  compelled  to  conclude  that  its  fate  is 
settled  and  that  the  provinces  which  have  declared  their  in- 
dependence, and  are  in  the  enjoyment  of  it,  ought  to  be  rec- 
ognized.” 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  to  which  the 
President’s  message  was  referred,  reported  on  March  19, 
1822,  that  the  Spanish  American  nations  were,  in  fact,  in- 
dependent, and  proposed  two  resolutions:  first,  that  the 
House  should  concur  with  the  President  that  the  American 
provinces  of  Spain  which  had  declared  and  were  enjoying 
their  independence  “ought  to  be  recognized  by  the  United 
States  as  independent  nations”;  and,  second,  that  the  Com- 
mittee on  Ways  and  Means  should  report  a bill  appropriat- 
ing a sum  to  enable  the  President  “to  give  due  effect  to 
such  recognition.” 


140 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


This  report  provoked  an  animated  debate  in  the  House. 
David  Trimble  of  Kentucky  enthusiastically  declared  that 
the  proposal  for  the  acknowledgment  of  Spanish  American 
independence  was  “a  message  of  good  tidings  to  twenty 
millions  of  freemen.  * * * Shall  the  last  of  the  revolution- 
ary heroes  leave  the  high  station  which  he  fills,  without 
officiating,  in  his  robes  of  office,  at  the  baptism  * * * of  all 
the  new  Republics  in  America?  * * * Let  us  boldly  fill  up 
our  page  of  destiny,  and  leave  no  blank  for  after-time  to 
write  an  execration  of  our  memory.  Let  us  make  acknowl- 
edgment at  once  * * * and  laugh  the  fear  of  despots  into 
scorn.” 

May  4,  1822,  President  Monroe  signed  a bill  which  ap- 
propriated $100,000  to  defray  the  expenses  of  “such  mis- 
sions to  the  independent  nations  of  the  American  continent” 
as  the  President  may  deem  proper,  which  was,  in  effect,  an 
announcement  that  the  Government  of  the  United  States  in- 
tended to  acknowledge  the  independence  of  the  revolting 
colonies  of  Spain  in  America.  Thus  she  became  the  first  gov- 
ernment, with  the  exception  of  Brazil,  to  extend  the  hand 
of  welcome  to  these  young  countries  as  members  of  the  so- 
ciety of  nations.  The  storm  of  protest  with  which  this  an- 
nouncement was  greeted  in  Europe  was  sufficient  to  show 
what  the  United  States  was  willing  to  risk  in  order  to  en- 
courage the  young  southern  neighbors  and  to  act  as  their 
sponsors  before  an  unsympathetic  world. 

The  first  step  in  formal  recognition  was  the  presentation 
to  President  Monroe  by  Secretary  Adams  of  Manuel  Torres 
as  charge  d’affaires  of  Colombia  on  June  19,  1822.  Torres 
was  in  very  poor  health  at  the  time,  scarcely  having  strength 
to  walk  alone,  and  was  greatly  affected  by  his  reception.  He 
spoke  on  the  great  importance  of  the  event  to  the  Republic 
of  Colombia  and  of  his  assurance  that  it  would  give  extraor- 
dinary gratification  to  Bolivar.  President  Monroe  sat  down 
beside  Torres,  “and  spoke  to  him  with  kindness  which 
moved  him  even  to  tears.  The  President  assured  him  of  the 
great  interest  taken  by  the  United  States  in  the  welfare  and 
success  of  his  country,  and  of  the  peculiar  satisfaction  with 
which  he  received  him  as  its  first  representative.” 

About  the  same  time  that  President  Monroe  had  signi- 


EARLY  EFFORTS  TOWARD  FRIENDSHIP  141 


fied  to  Secretary  Adams  his  intention  to  receive  Torres  offi- 
cially, Adams  wrote  to  Jose  M.  de  Herrera,  the  Mexican 
Secretary  of  Foreign  Affairs,  of  the  President’s  willingness 
to  receive  an  envoy  from  Mexico.  A change  in  Mexican  af- 
fairs, ensuing  shortly  afterward  and  which  resulted  in  the 
proclamation  of  Iturbide  as  Emperor  in  May,  1822,  made 
the  United  States  somewhat  reluctant  to  carry  out  the  pro- 
posal, and  Joel  R.  Poinsett  was  sent  to  Mexico  City  to  in- 
vestigate conditions.  Recognition  could  not  be  long  delayed, 
however,  for  in  September  Iturbide  appointed  Jose  Manuel 
Zozaya  as  Minister  Plenipotentiary  to  Washington,  under 
instructions  to  propose  treaties  of  friendship,  alliance,  com- 
merce and  adjustment  of  boundaries.  Arriving  in  Wash- 
ington on  December  10,  1822,  he  was  presented  to  Presi- 
dent Monroe  two  days  later  as  Envoy  Extraordinary  and 
Minister  Plenipotentiary  from  the  Mexican  Empire. 

On  June  27,  1823,  the  United  States  Senate  confirmed 
the  nomination  of  Richard  C.  Anderson  as  Minister  to  Co- 
lombia, C.  A.  Rodney  as  Minister  to  Argentina  and  Her- 
man Allen  as  Minister  to  Chile.  On  June  1,  1825,  Joel  R. 
Poinsett  was  relieved  as  Minister  at  Mexico  City.  A few 
months  later  charges  d’affaires  were  sent  to  Lima  and  Cen- 
tral America.  Thus  were  begun  in  those  critical  days  the 
formal  diplomatic  relations  with  the  young  American  de- 
mocracies which  for  more  than  a century  have  remained 
unbroken,  with  the  single  unfortunate  exception  of  the  Mex- 
ican War  of  1846-47.  It  is  thus  seen  that  just  as  in  His- 
panic America  the  great  leaders  had  thought  much  of  con- 
tinental solidarity,  so  also  the  leading  statesmen,  as  well  as 
the  common  people,  of  the  United  States  were  in  the  early 
days  most  sympathetic  toward  their  southern  neighbors.  In 
these  first  days  there  was  neither  suspicion  on  the  part  of 
the  South  nor  designs  on  the  part  of  the  North.  The  con- 
stitutions of  all  the  Latin  American  republics  were  modeled 
upon  that  of  the  United  States,  which  country  was  gener- 
ally referred  to  by  some  such  term  as  “our  great  sister  of 
the  North,”  the  “model  republic,”  etc. 

After  the  southern  republics  secured  their  freedom  and 
we,  by  means  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  succeeded  in  keeping 
Europe  from  encroaching  on  American  territory,  we  more 


142 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


or  less  forgot  the  rest  of  America  in  our  intense  desire  to 
round  out  and  develop  our  own  great  territory. 

The  only  other  American  country  with  which  we  had  any 
particular  dealings  in  that  period  was  our  next-door  neigh- 
bor, with  whom  we  came  in  contact  in  expanding  our  own 
national  life.  Our  relations  with  Mexico  started  out  splen- 
didly. On  November  30,  1821,  the  Mexican  Minister  of 
Foreign  Affairs,  Jose  M.  de  Herrera,  sent  the  first  diplo- 
matic commission  to  the  Washington  government,  and 
among  other  things  said : 

“The  people  of  Mexico  are  desirous  of  being  united  to 
all  governments  by  means  of  friendly  alliances  and  connec- 
tions. The  United  States  of  North  America  have  a prefer- 
able right  to  demand  of  the  Mexican  Empire  these  consid- 
erations, the  more  just  and  reasonable  because  they  are  sup- 
ported by  well-known  maxims  of  policy.  Even  nature  her- 
self has  separated  these  nations  from  Europe  by  immense 
seas  and  placed  them  upon  the  same  continent  that  they 
might  make  common  cause  in  reciprocally  supplying  their 
necessities  and  cooperating  for  their  mutual  felicity.” 

THE  DISASTROUS  WAR  WITH  MEXICO 

Unfortunately  these  cordial  words  did  not  prove  pro- 
phetic of  future  relations  between  the  two  countries.  Minis- 
ter Poinsett  got  mixed  up  in  internal  politics  in  Mexico  and 
came  to  be  cordially  hated  by  many  Mexicans  who  resented 
his  seeming  endeavor  to  conduct  their  government  for  them. 
The  second  American  Minister,  Anthony  Butler,  was  even 
more  objectionable,  because  of  his  continued  insistence  upon 
buying  Texas  after  Mexico  had  told  him  it  was  not  for 
sale. 

Border  claims  early  came  to  be  a troublesome  issue.  The 
independence  of  Texas  and  its  later  annexation  to  the 
LTnited  States  widened  the  breach  and  prepared  for  the  war 
declared  by  the  United  States  on  May  13,  1846.  Most  his- 
torians of  the  United  States  agree  that  this  was  an  unjust 
war  largely  caused  by  the  selfish  designs  of  American  poli- 
ticians. Latin  Americans  who,  justly  so,  criticize  this  war 


EARLY  EFFORTS  TOWARD  FRIENDSHIP  143 


should  remember  that  the  best  elements  in  the  United  States 
have  equally  condemned  it.  General  Grant  called  it  an 
“unholy  war,”  saying: 

“For  myself,  I was  bitterly  opposed  to  the  measure  (the 
annexation  of  Texas)  and  to  this  day  regard  the  war  which 
resulted  as  one  of  the  most  unjust  ever  waged  by  a stronger 
against  a weaker  nation.  It  was  an  instance  of  a republic 
following  the  bad  example  of  European  monarchies,  in  not 
considering  justice  in  their  desire  to  acquire  additional 
territory.” 

It  was  Abraham  Lincoln,  the  great  defender  of  weak 
peoples,  who  led  the  fight  in  Congress  itself  against  the  war. 
Lincoln  argued  that  the  war  was  unnecessarily  and  uncon- 
stitutionally begun  by  the  President  of  the  United  States  for 
the  following  reasons : 

That  the  President  had  sent  General  Taylor  into  an  in- 
habited part  of  the  country  belonging  to  Mexico  and  not  to 
the  United  States  and  had  thereby  provoked  the  first  act  of 
hostility,  in  fact,  the  commencement  of  the  war;  that  the 
place,  being  the  country  bordering  on  the  east  bank  of  the 
Rio  Grande,  was  inhabited  by  native  Mexicans  born  under 
the  Mexican  government  and  had  never  submitted  to  or 
been  conquered  by  either  Texas  or  the  United  States,  nor 
transferred  to  either  of  them  by  treaty ; that  although  Texas 
claimed  the  Rio  Grande  as  her  boundary,  Mexico  had  never 
recognized  it  and  neither  Texas  nor  the  United  States  had 
ever  enforced  it  and  there  was  a broad  desert  between  that 
and  the  country  over  which  Texas  had  actual  control;  that 
the  country  where  hostilities  commenced  having  once  be- 
longed to  Mexico  must  remain  so  until  it  was  somehow 
legally  transferred,  which  had  never  been  done. 

Mr.  Lincoln  thought  the  act  of  sending  an  armed  force 
among  the  Mexicans  was  unnecessary  inasmuch  as  Mexico 
was  in  no  way  molesting  or  menacing  the  United  States,  and 
that  it  was  ’unconstitutional  because  the  power  of  levying 
war  is  vested  in  Congress  and  not  in  the  Executive.  He 
thought  the  principal  motive  for  the  act  was  to  divert  public 
attention  from  the  surrender  of  “fifty-four  forty  or  fight”  to 


144 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


Great  Britain  in  the  Oregon  boundary  controversy.  In  ad- 
dressing Congress  Lincoln  said: 

“Now,  sir,  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  the  very  best  evi- 
dence as  to  whether  Texas  had  actually  carried  her  revolu- 
tion to  the  place  where  the  hostilities  of  the  present  war 
commenced,  let  the  President  answer  the  interrogatories  I 
proposed,  or  some  similar  ones.  Let  him  answer,  fully, 
fairly,  and  candidly.  Let  him  answer  with  facts,  and  not 
with  arguments.  Let  him  remember  he  sits  where  Wash- 
ington sat,  and  so  remembering,  let  him  answer  as  Washing- 
ton would  answer.  As  a nation  should  not,  and  the  Almighty 
will  not,  be  evaded,  so  let  him  attempt  no  evasion — no  equiv- 
ocation. And  if,  so  answering,  he  can  show  that  the  soil 
was  ours  where  the  first  blood  of  the  war  was  shed — that  it 
was  not  within  an  inhabited  country,  or,  if  within  such,  that 
the  inhabitants  had  submitted  themselves  to  the  civil  author- 
ity of  Texas  or  of  the  United  States,  and  that  the  same  is 
true  of  the  site  of  Fort  Brown,  then  I am  with  him  for  his 
justification.  * * * But  if  he  cannot  or  will  not  do  this — if 
on  any  pretense  or  no  pretense  he  shall  refuse  or  omit  it — 
then  I shall  be  fully  convinced  of  what  I more  than  suspect 
already — that  he  is  deeply  conscious  of  being  in  the  wrong; 
that  he  feels  the  blood  of  this  war,  like  the  blood  of  Abel,  is 
crying  to  Heaven  against  him ; that  originally  having  some 
strong  motive — what,  I will  not  stop  now  to  give  my  opinion 
concerning — to  involve  the  two  countries  in  a war,  and 
trusting  to  escape  scrutiny  by  fixing  the  public  gaze  upon  the 
exceeding  brightness  of  military  glory — that  attractive  rain- 
bow that  arises  in  showers  of  blood — that  serpent’s  eye  that 
charms  to  destroy — he  plunged  into  it,  and  has  swept  on 
and  on  till,  disappointed  in  his  calculation  of  the  ease  with 
which  Mexico  might  be  subdued,  he  now  finds  himself  he 
knows  not  where.  How  like  the  insane  mumblings  of  a 
fever  dream  is  the  whole  war  part  of  his  last  message!  At 
one  time  urging  the  national  honor,  the  security  of  the  fu- 
ture, the  prevention  of  foreign  interference,  and  even  the 
good  of  Mexico  herself  as  among  the  objects  of  the  war;  at 
another  telling  us  that  ‘to  reject  indemnity,  by  refusing  to 
accept  a cession  of  territory  would  be  to  abandon  all  our 


EARLY  EFFORTS  TOWARD  FRIENDSHIP  145 


just  demands,  and  to  wage  the  war  bearing  all  its  expenses, 
without  a purpose  or  definite  object.’ 

“*  * * Again,  it  is  a singular  omission  in  this  message 
that  it  nowhere  intimates  when  the  President  expects  the 
war  to  terminate.  At  its  beginning,  General  Scott  was  by 
this  same  President  driven  into  disfavor,  if  not  disgrace, 
for  intimating  that  peace  could  not  be  conquered  in  less  than 
three  or  four  months.  But  now,  at  the  end  of  about  twenty 
months  * * * this  same  President  gives  us  a long  message, 
without  showing  us  that  as  to  the  end  he  himself  has  even 
an  imaginary  conception.  As  I have  said  before,  he  knows 
not  where  he  is.  He  is  a bewildered,  confounded,  and  mis- 
erably perplexed  man.  God  grant  he  may  be  able  to  show 
there  is  not  something  about  his  conscience  more  painful 
than  all  his  mental  perplexity.” 

CONSEQUENCE  OF  THE  WAR  WITH  MEXICO 

The  war  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico  marks 
the  dividing  of  the  ways  between  North  and  Hispanic  Amer- 
ica. From  that  time  on,  the  southerners  began  to  be  afraid 
of  the  nation  that  was  not  only  greater  than  they,  but  now 
seemed  to  be  willing  to  use  its  strength  to  exploit  its 
weaker  neighbors.  This  change  of  sentiment  is  widely  rec- 
ognized by  Hispanic  American  writers.  Ex-President  Bo- 
nillas, of  Honduras,  says : 

“Ever  since  the  Mexican  War,  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  in- 
stead of  being  considered  as  a guarantee  of  American  in- 
dependence by  the  Latin  American  countries,  has  been  re- 
garded as  a menace  to  their  existence.” 

The  Venezuelan  historian,  Blanco  Fombona,  says: 

“The  United  States  were,  until  their  war  with  Mexico,  a 
people  without  militaristic  or  imperialistic  ambitions,  the 
model  and  the  home  of  civil  liberty.  All  South  America  ad- 
mired her  with  the  same  ardor  with  which  today  they  hate 
her.” 

Manuel  Ugarte  in  a lecture  in  Columbia  University  a 
short  time  ago  said : 


146  PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 

“During  the  early  times,  from  the  eve  of  the  eighteenth 
to  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the  two  groups 
(Latin  Americans  and  Anglo-Saxon  Americans)  main- 
tained themselves  in  a spirit  of  fraternity  and  mutual  re- 
spect. * * * It  was  in  these  times  of  austerity  and  strict 
logic  when  we  Latin  Americans  began  to  admire  the  United 
States.  The  vital  breath  of  equity  that  seemed  to  animate 
the  young  nation  inspired  our  fullest  and  most  sincere  ad- 
miration. When  the  LTnited  States  obtained  from  Spain  the 
sale  of  Florida  and  from  France  the  cession  of  Louisiana 
we  did  not  picture  in  that  aggrandizement  anything  more 
formidable  than  a just  desire  to  preserve  collective  inde- 
pendence, barring  from  the  Continent  the  last  vestige  of 
European  domination.  But  in  the  victory  of  yesterday  is 
discernible  a tendency  to  become  the  executioner  of  today 
and  the  emancipated  subject,  the  freed  colony,  once  fortified, 
forgot  the  declarations  of  its  heroes  and  began  in  turn  to 
abuse  its  powers.  The  annexation  of  Mexican  territory  in 
1845-48  was  the  revelation  of  a policy  which  was  afterward 
to  extend  itself  in  a lamentable  manner.  A specter  of  dom- 
ination and  despoilment  appeared  to  float  over  our  unde- 
fended countries.  Several  countries  succumbed,  and  injus- 
tice has  lately  become  so  accentuated  that  we  turn  to  the 
United  States  today  to  cry  out:  ‘The  same  injustice  which 
the  mother  country  perpetrated  against  you,  you  are  now 
committing  against  us ; and  we  have  no  fault  save  that  which 
you  had  even  yesterday,  our  weakness.’  ” 

It  was  not  simply  the  Mexican  War  itself  that  brought 
about  this  change  of  sentiment  toward  the  United  States, 
but  it  was  the  development  and  boastful  use  of  the  term 
“Manifest  Destiny”  which  North  American  politicians  and 
editors  began  at  that  time  to  flout  to  the  world.  There  was 
at  that  period,  and  continues  to  be,  far  too  much  of  the 
jingo  spirit  illustrated  by  the  following  words  attributed  by 
Eduardo  Prado  of  Brazil  to  Mr.  Everetts,  spoken  at  a 
dinner  presided  over  by  General  Grant: 

“America  for  the  Americans!  Yes.  But  we  understand 
it  means  America  for  the  North  Americans.  Let  us  begin 


EARLY  EFFORTS  TOWARD  FRIENDSHIP  147 


with  Mexico,  of  which  we  have  already  taken  a part.  We 
must  now  take  her  entirely.  Central  America  will  follow, 
whetting  our  appetites  for  South  America.  Looking  at  the 
map  we  see  that  South  America  has  the.  shape  of  a ham. 
Uncle  Sam’s  favorite  dish  is  ham.  Our  starry  banners  are 
sufficient  to  reach  from  one  glorious  ocean  to  another.  Some 
day  it  will  float  alone  and  triumphant  from  the  North  Pole 
to  the  South.” 

Dr.  Ernesto  Quesada,  in  recent  lectures  before  the  Uni- 
versity of  Buenos  Aires,  has  brought  together  a long  series 
of  quotations  from  eminent  North  Americans  in  the  ad- 
ministrations of  Polk,  Taylor,  Pierce  and  Buchanan,  which 
spread  alarm  through  Latin  America,  such  as  the  following, 
uttered  in  a notable  session  of  the  United  States  Congress  in 
1857  by  Senator  Douglas: 

“Whatever  the  interests  of  the  United  States  dictate 
should  be  considered  the  law  of  the  land,  and  other  nations 
must  accept  it,  for  the  conditions,  limitations  and  restrictions 
of  former  days  cannot  prevail  in  view  of  the  manifest  des- 
tiny of  our  nation.” 

President  Pierce,  who  had  a scheme  to  take  over  Yucatan, 
said : 

“The  policy  of  my  administration  will  not  be  controlled 
by  any  timid  forebodings  of  evil  from  expansion.  Indeed, 
it  is  not  doubted  that  our  attitude  as  a nation  and  our  posi- 
tion on  the  globe  render  the  acquisition  of  certain  territory, 
not  within  our  jurisdiction,  eminently  important  for  our  pro- 
tection.” 

Since  this  book  is  not  a historical  study,  but  the  presenta- 
tion of  certain  outstanding  developments  related  to  prob- 
lems of  American  unity,  time  will  not  be  taken  to  consider 
in  detail  the  history  of  the  United  States’  relations  to  Latin 
America  between  the  Mexican  War  and  the  First  Pan  Amer- 
ican Congress  in  1889.  The  most  significant  events  in  Inter- 
American  relations,  from  the  standpoint  of  the  United 
States,  were  the  Walker  Expedition  to  Central  America,  the 


148 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


diplomatic  intervention  of  the  United  States  in  the  War  be- 
tween Chile  and  Peru  and  Bolivia,  the  development  of  the 
idea  of  Manifest  Destiny,  the  demand  on  Napoleon  to  with- 
draw his  troops  from  Mexico,  and  the  mediation  of  the 
United  States  between  Spain  and  South  America  in  their 
war  of  the  sixties,  which  events,  except  the  latter  two,  aug- 
mented the  fear  of  the  growing  power  of  the  United  States. 

Summarizing  we  may  say  that  in  the  early  days  the 
Americas,  both  North  and  South,  had  great  interest  in  one 
another,  and  a common  desire  for  friendship  and  helpful 
relations ; but  that  the  Mexican  War  started  a suspicion  and 
fear  of  the  United  States  among  the  Hispanic  American 
countries,  which  grew  to  such  proportions  that  it  became 
the  outstanding  phenomenon  in  American  international  rela- 
tions. If  fact  as  well  as  appearance  has  sometimes  justified 
this  suspicion,  we  at  least  must  realize  that  there  have  always 
been  great  men  in  the  United  States,  who,  just  as  Lincoln 
protested  against  the  Mexican  War,  have  raised  their  voices 
against  anything  that  looked  like  taking  advantage  of  a 
weaker  people.  In  fact,  all  through  our  history  we  have 
been  fortunate  enough  to  have  great  outstanding  souls  like 
Henry  Clay  who  in  the  broadest  continental  sense  have  been 
“animated  by  an  American  feeling  and  guided  by  an  Ameri- 
can policy.” 

Sources  of  Further  Information  on  Early  Efforts  of  the 
United  States  Toward  American  Friendship 

Blanco-Fombona,  R. : Grandes  Escritores  de  America. 
Latane:  The  United  States  and  Latin  America,  Chapters  II  and 
VIII. 

Lima,  M.  de  Oliveira  : Relations  of  Brazil  with  the  United  States. 
Lobo,  Helio  : Cousas  Diplomaticas. 

Lockey,  Jos.  B. : Pan-Americanism,  Its  Beginnings. 

Manning:  Early  Diplomatic  Relations  with  Mexico. 

Moore,  John  B.:  Henry  Clay  and  Pan  Americanism,  Bulletin 

American  Association  of  International  Conciliation. 

Prado,  Eduardo:  A Illusao  Americana. 

Robinson,  James  Spence:  Recognition  of  Hispanic  America  by 
the  United  States. 


Chapter  V 

THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE  AND  LATIN  AMERICA 


The  Monroe  Doctrine  has  been  for  the  American  conti- 
nent at  once  the  most  powerful  unifying  force  and  the  great- 
est cause  of  division  and  misunderstanding.  From  the 
standpoint  of  the  United  States  it  might  be  called  “the 
American  fetish.”  Along  with  the  Washington  doctrine 
of  no  entangling  alliances  it  has  been  the  cardinal  principle 
of  our  foreign  policy.  As  Jefferson  said,  “It  is  the  offspring 
of  the  American  Revolution  and  the  most  momentous  ques- 
tion offered  to  my  contemplation  since  the  Independence.” 
Like  many  an  important  principle,  it  has  through  the  pas- 
sage of  time  come  to  be  more  of  a sentiment  than  a principle 
or  a policy.  And  like  every  sentiment  it  has  as  many  inter- 
pretations as  there  are  kinds  of  persons  who  deal  with  it.  To 
the  average  North  American  it  means  the  divine  right — as 
sacred  and  clear  as  was  ever  such  right  to  any  monarch — to 
act  as  the  big  brother  of  all  the  other  American  nations. 
This  means  first  to  protect  them  from  all  outside  interfer- 
ence, and,  second,  to  help  them  in  their  own  difficulties  when 
they  seem  to  have  lost  their  way  politically,  financially  or 
economically.  It  makes  no  difference  what  question  con- 
cerning Latin  America  may  arise  in  this  country  or  what 
difficulty  may  arise  in  the  South  which  affects  the  life  of 
the  United  States,  many  immediately  call  out  the  Monroe 
Doctrine  as  arbiter. 

“Why  has  General  Crowder  gone  to  Cuba?”  was  the 
question  appearing  recently  from  a reader  of  one  of  our 
prominent  dailies.  “It  is  due  to  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  which 
makes  us  responsible  for  fair  elections  in  Cuba,”  answered 
the  all-wise  editor.  And  no  doubt  the  questioner  was  en- 
tirely satisfied  with  this  simple  answer.  Because  we  North 
Americans  are  so  sure  of  our  generous  desire  to  help  all  who 

149 


150 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


are  in  need,  and  so  sure  of  our  superiority  to  all  the  rest  of 
America,  many  of  us  suppose  that  all  Latin  American  gov- 
ernments must  be  highly  appreciative  of  the  help  which  the 
Monroe  Doctrine  makes  us  in  honor  bound  to  give.  Of 
course,  if  the  young  sinner  proves  recalcitrant,  we,  as  the 
unselfish  and  more  experienced  brother,  desirous  only  of 
the  other’s  improvement,  must  compel  him  to  be  good.  If 
anyone  questions  at  all  whether  this  is  the  right  procedure 
he  is  met  with  “We  do  not  discuss  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  we 
enforce  it.” 

It  is  this  attitude  of  the  North  American  toward  the  Doc- 
trine, rather  than  the  Doctrine  itself,  that  explains  why  it 
has  been  such  a cause  of  division  and  misunderstanding. 
In  other  words,  it  is  a certain  interpretation  of  the  Doctrine 
(a  false  interpretation,  I believe)  and  not  the  Doctrine  itself, 
that  is  so  much  opposed  in  Latin  America.  Indeed,  the 
original  Monroe  Doctrine  was  well  received  in  the  South, 
and  from  that  time  until  today  the  declaration  in  its  original 
sense  has  been  approved  by  the  best  minds  of  Hispanic 
America. 

In  these  days  when  all  international  relations  are  in  flux 
and  when  every  principle  of  life  is  being  stripped  of  its  ac- 
cretions and  thoroughly  examined,  we  need  a fresh  study 
of  the  original  purposes  of  the  Doctrine,  which  has  been  the 
basis  of  more  discussion  and  more  varied  interpretation  than 
any  other  document  ever  issued  by  the  president  of  a 
republic. 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  DOCTRINE 

The  substance  of  this  Doctrine,  which  calls  for  the  ex- 
clusion of  European  colonization  and  interference  in  Amer- 
ican affairs,  had  often  been  stated  before  the  Monroe  pro- 
nouncement both  by  North  American  and  South  American 
statesmen.  But  in  1822  it  seemed  probable  that  the  efforts 
of  the  Holy  Alliance  to  strangle  all  democratic  development 
in  Europe  might  be  extended  to  the  western  hemisphere. 
So  Monroe  and  his  advisors  felt  it  necessary  to  take  steps 
to  forestall  any  such  movement.  Great  Britain  was  also 
opposed  to  the  extension  of  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Alii- 


THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE  AND  LATIN  AMERICA  151 


ance  to  America,  for  with  the  reconquest  of  Spanish  Amer- 
ica large  part  of  the  conquered  territory  might  be  turned 
over  to  France  and  the  large  commerce  which  had  been  di- 
verted to  Great  Britain  on  account  of  the  revolt  of  the 
colonies  would  be  seriously  affected. 

At  this  time  the  British  Foreign  Secretary  was  the  cele- 
brated Canning,  one  of  the  most  astute  men  that  ever  held 
that  office,  a man  who  exercised  almost  a charmed  influence 
over  Latin  American  statesmen  of  those  days,  as  well  as 
an  exaggerated  place  in  the  judgments  of  later  Latin  Amer- 
ican historians.  His  proposal  to  the  United  States  of  an 
agreement  that  would  checkmate  the  influence  of  the  Alli- 
ance (and  incidentally  that  of  the  United  States)  in  His- 
panic America,  has  led  many  historians  to  erroneously  credit 
him  with  originating  the  Monroe  Doctrine.  At  least  two 
strong  proofs  of  the  falsity  of  the  “Canning  myth,”  as  it 
has  rightly  been  called,  are  these:  First,  the  doctrine  that 
Europe  must  not  meddle  in  American  affairs  had  been  stated 
many  times,  both  in  North  and  South  America,  before  it 
was  formally  announced  by  Monroe.  Second,  the  Doctrine 
had  no  more  strenuous  opponent  than  Canning  himself.  He 
later  said,  “It  is  not  easy  to  say  how  much  the  previous 
British  propositions  influenced  the  message,  but  the  doc- 
trine, if  such  it  can  be  called,  of  the  presidential  message 
prohibiting  all  future  colonization  on  the  American  conti- 
nent, is  absolutely  unacceptable  to  my  government  and  to 
France.  This  extraordinary  principle  will  be  combated  by 
my  government  with  all  its  force.”  The  private  correspond- 
ence of  Canning  with  some  of  his  friends  shows  that  he  did 
everything  possible  to  combat  the  doctrine.  In  fact,  Great 
Britain  has  generally  been  its  strong  opponent,  Lord  Salis- 
bury writing  to  Secretary  Olney  during  the  Venezuelan  con- 
troversy that  the  Monroe  Doctrine  was  not  entitled  to  any- 
one’s respect. 

When  Canning  was  asked  why  he  had  not  sought  to  pre- 
vent the  French  invasion  of  Spain,  he  said,  “I  sought  for 
compensation  in  another  hemisphere.  * * * I resolved  that 
if  France  had  Spain  it  should  not  be  Spain  with  the  Indies. 
I called  the  new  world  into  existence  to  redress  the  balance 
of  the  old.”  This,  of  course,  was  nonsense,  as  the  Spanish 


152 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


American  colonies  had  won  their  independence  by  their 
own  efforts  and  had  been  recognized  by  the  United  States 
as  independent  governments  two  years  before  Great  Britain 
took  any  action  in  the  matter.  Canning  was  so  irritated 
by  the  Monroe  Doctrine  that  he  did  not  permit  the  United 
States  to  participate  with  Great  Britain  and  Russia  in  the 
settlement  of  the  Alaskan  boundary  question.  As  long  as 
he  remained  in  public  life  he  opposed  the  Monroe  Doctrine 
in  every  possible  way,  and  continually  impressed  upon  the 
Latin  American  republics  the  advantage  to  them  of  an  alli- 
ance with  Great  Britain  over  an  alliance  with  the  United 
States. 

And  yet,  with  all  this  evidence  to  the  contrary,  great  stu- 
dents like  Alberdi  have  believed  this  Canning  myth  and  at- 
tribute the  success  of  the  colonies’  struggle  for  independence 
to  the  friendship  of  Great  Britain.  Many  Latin  Americans 
erroneously  hold  this  to  be  a very  important  point  in  show- 
ing what  they  claim  was  the  indifference  of  the  United  States 
to  Hispanic  America’s  struggle  for  independence. 

Canning  did  send  to  Minister  Rush  of  the  United  States, 
who  was  in  London  at  the  time,  five  proposals  concerning 
the  recognition  of  the  independence  of  the  Spanish  colonies 
and  their  protection  from  the  schemes  of  the  Holy  Alliance, 
which  he  suggested  the  two  governments  might  jointly  an- 
nounce. But  Monroe,  advised  by  his  Secretary,  Adams, 
chose  rather  to  announce  a purely  American  doctrine  that 
would  be  sustained  by  American  authority.  This  is  a most 
important  matter  for  Latin  Americans  to  understand.  And 
for  North  America  it  is  imperative  to  realize  that  the  cir- 
cumstances surrounding  the  announcement  of  the  Doctrine 
all  point  to  the  fact  that  our  statesmen  did  not  have  the 
least  idea  that  we  were  providing  for  ourselves  any  special 
privileges  in  America.  As  John  Quincy  Adams,  the  man 
who  historians  believe  worded  the  Doctrine  itself,  wrote  in 
his  diary,  “Considering  the  South  Americans  as  independent 
nations,  they  themselves,  and  no  other  nation,  had  the  right 
to  dispose  of  their  condition.  We  have  no  right  to  dispose 
of  them,  either  alone  or  in  conjunction  with  other  nations. 
Neither  have  any  other  nations  the  right  to  dispose  of  them 
without  their  consent.” 


THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE  AND  LATIN  AMERICA  153 


ITS  CONTENTS 

The  most  salient  features  of  the  famous  Doctrine,  which 
was  contained  in  President  Monroe’s  annual  message  to 
Congress  on  December  2,  1823,  are  the  following: 

“The  occasion  has  been  judged  proper  for  asserting  as 
a principle  in  which  the  rights  and  interests  of  the  United 
States  are  involved,  that  the  American  constituents,  by  the 
free  and  independent  condition  which  they  have  assumed 
and  maintain,  are  henceforth  not  to  be  considered  as  sub- 
jects for  future  colonization  by  an  European  power. 

“The  citizens  of  the  United  States  cherish  sentiments  the 
most  friendly  in  favor  of  the  liberty  and  happiness  of  their 
fellow-men  on  that  side  of  the  Atlantic.  In  the  wars  of  the 
European  in  matters  relating  to  themselves  we  have  never 
taken  any  part,  nor  does  it  comport  with  our  policy  to  do  so. 
It  is  only  when  our  rights  are  invaded  or  seriously  menaced 
that  we  resent  injuries  or  make  preparation  for  our  defense. 
With  the  movements  in  this  hemisphere  we  are,  of  neces- 
sity, more  immediately  connected,  and  by  causes  which  must 
be  obvious  to  all  enlightened  and  impartial  observers.  The 
political  system  of  the  allied  powers  is  essentially  different 
in  this  respect  from  that  of  America.  This  difference  pro- 
ceeds from  that  which  exists  in  their  respective  Govern- 
ments. And  to  the  defense  of  our  own,  which  has  been 
achieved  by  the  loss  of  so  much  blood  and  treasure,  and  ma- 
tured by  the  wisdom  of  their  most  enlightened  citizens,  and 
under  which  we  have  enjoyed  unexampled  felicity,  this 
whole  nation  is  devoted.  We  owe  it,  therefore,  to  candor, 
and  to  the  amicable  relations  existing  between  the  United 
States  and  those  powers,  to  declare  that  we  should  consider 
any  attempt  on  their  part  to  extend  their  system  to  any  por- 
tion of  this  hemisphere  as  dangerous  to  our  peace  and  safety. 
With  the  existing  colonies  or  dependencies  of  any  European 
power  we  have  not  interfered  and  shall  not  interfere.  But 
with  the  Governments  who  have  declared  their  independ- 
ence, and  maintained  it,  and  whose  independence  we  have, 
on  great  consideration  and  on  just  principles,  acknowledged, 
we  could  not  view  any  interposition  for  the  purpose  of  op- 


154 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


pressing  them,  or  controlling  in  any  other  manner  their  des- 
tiny, by  any  European  power,  in  any  other  light  than  as  the 
manifestation  of  an  unfriendly  disposition  toward  the 
United  States. 

“The  late  events  in  Spain  and  Portugal  show  that  Europe 
is  still  unsettled.  Of  this  important  fact  no  stronger  proof 
can  be  adduced  than  that  the  allied  powers  should  have 
thought  it  proper,  on  any  principle  satisfactory  to  them- 
selves, to  have  interposed,  by  force,  in  the  internal  concerns 
of  Spain.  To  what  extent  such  interposition  may  be  car- 
ried, on  the  same  principle,  is  a question  in  which  all  inde- 
pendent powers  whose  Governments  differ  from  theirs  are 
interested,  even  those  most  remote,  and  surely  more  so  than 
the  United  States.” 

HOW  THE  DOCTRINE  WAS  RECEIVED  IN  LATIN  AMERICA 

What  was  Latin  America’s  attitude  to  this  new  Doctrine? 
Bolivar  seems  not  to  have  heard  of  it  for  quite  a while.  He 
never  really  made  any  long  pronouncement  upon  it.  He 
did,  however,  applaud  the  declaration,  and  in  a letter  to  the 
Spanish  general  whom  he  was  endeavoring  to  persuade  to 
join  the  liberal  cause,  said : “England  and  the  United  States 
protect  us.  These  two  nations  which  form  today  the  only 
two  powers  in  the  world,  will  not  permit  that  help  be  given 
to  Spain.” 

The  Brazilian  government,  through  its  Minister,  Rebello, 
proposed  an  alliance  between  the  United  States  and  Brazil 
which  the  other  Hispanic  American  republics  'were  invited 
to  join.  She  invoked  the  message  of  Monroe  and  the  ne- 
cessity of  making  impossible  any  tendency  of  the  mother 
countries  to  reconquer  their  old  colonies,  observing  that 
“the  United  States  is  obliged  to  place  in  practice  the  prin- 
ciple announced  in  the  message  (Monroe)  giving  proof  of 
the  generosity  and  the  consistency  which  animates  that  gov- 
ernment, without  counting  the  eventual  sacrifice  of  men 
and  money.” 

On  April  6,  1824,  Vice-President  Santander  sent  a mes- 
sage to  the  Colombian  Congress  in  which  he  referred  to  the 
Monroe  Doctrine  as  follows: 


THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE  AND  LATIN  AMERICA  155 

“The  President  of  the  United  States  has  lately  signalized 
his  administration  by  an  act  eminently  just  and  worthy  of 
the  classic  land  of  liberty;  in  his  last  message  to  the  Con- 
gress he  has  declared  that  he  will  regard  every  interference 
of  any  European  power  directed  to  oppress  or  violate  the 
destinies  of  the  independent  governments  of  America  as  a 
manifestation  of  hostile  disposition  toward  the  United 
States.  That  government  considers  every  attempt  on  the 
part  of  the  Allied  Powers  to  extend  their  system  to  any  por- 
tion of  the  American  hemisphere  as  perilous  to  the  peace  and 
safety  of  the  United  States.  This  policy,  consolatory  to 
human  nature,  would  secure  to  Colombia  a powerful  ally 
should  its  independence  and  liberty  be  menaced  by  the  Allied 
Powers.  As  the  Executive  cannot  regard  with  indifference 
the  march  which  the  policy  of  the  United  States  has  taken, 
it  is  sedulously  occupied  in  reducing  the  question  to  decisive 
and  conclusive  points.” 

About  the  same  time  Santander  addressed  a note  to  Sec- 
retary Adams  in  which  he  said : 

“My  Government  has  received  with  the  greatest  pleasure 
the  message,  worthy  of  its  author,  which  expresses  the  senti- 
ment of  the  country  over  which  he  presides.” 

He  even  went  so  far  as  to  propose  an  alliance  between  the 
United  States  and  Colombia  to  sustain  the  principles  of  the 
Monroe  Doctrine. 

From  Buenos  Aires  United  States  Minister  Rodney 
wrote  on  February  io,  1824,  to  President  Monroe  that  his 
message  had  been  received  two  days  before,  that  it  had  in- 
spired the  Argentine  people,  and  that  it  would  have  the 
“happiest  effect  throughout  the  whole  Spanish  provinces.” 
On  May  22nd  he  wrote  Secretary  Adams  that  the  frank  and 
firm  message  of  the  President  had  been  productive  of  happy 
effects;  but  that  he  looked  not  so  much  to  its  temporary 
influence  as  to  its  permanent  operation.  “We  had  it  imme- 
diately translated,”  he  wrote,  “into  the  Spanish  language, 
printed  and  generally  circulated  in  this  quarter,  Peru  and 
Chile.” 


156 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


On  December  1 6,  1824,  the  congress  of  the  United  Prov- 
inces of  Rio  de  la  Plata  opened  its  sessions  at  Buenos  Aires. 
In  a message  of  the  government  of  Buenos  Aires,  laid  before 
that  body  on  the  same  date,  the  American  policy  of  the 
United  States  was  referred  to  in  the  following  terms : 

“We  have  fulfilled  a great  national  duty  toward  the  re- 
public of  the  United  States  of  North  America.  That  re- 
public, which,  from  its  origin,  presides  over  the  civilization 
of  the  New  World,  has  solemnly  acknowledged  our  inde- 
pendence. It  has  at  the  same  time  made  an  appeal  to  our 
national  honor  by  supposing  us  capable  of  contending  single- 
handed  with  Spain ; but  it  has  constituted  itself  the  guardian 
of  the  field  of  battle  in  order  to  prevent  any  foreign  assist- 
ance from  being  introduced  to  the  aid  of  our  rival.” 

Governor  Las  Heras,  of  Buenos  Aires,  on  receiving 
United  States  Minister  Forbes  a little  later,  said : 

“The  Governor  of  the  United  Provinces  recognizes  the 
importance  of  the  two  principles  which  the  President  of  the 
United  States  has  announced  in  his  message  to  Congress 
and,  convinced  of  the  usefulness  of  their  adoption  by  each 
of  the  states  of  this  continent,  will  consider  it  his  duty  to 
back  them,  and  for  this  purpose  will  accept  any  opportunity 
that  is  presented.” 

Chile  gave  a most  genuine  response  to  President  Monroe’s 
message.  The  papers  of  Santiago  seemed  to  discover  in 
the  Monroe  Doctrine  a frank  and  explicit  promise  of  effec- 
tive protection  for  the  Spanish  American  republics  against 
the  political  combinations  and  military  projects  of  European 
monarchs.  A delegate  of  the  Chief  Executive,  upon  the  oc- 
casion of  receiving  Mr.  Allen,  the  newly-appointed  Minister 
of  the  United  States  to  Chile,  expressed  the  gratitude  of 
his  government  for  the  recognition  of  the  independence  of 
the  new  states  and  for  the  recent  declaration  of  President 
Monroe  which  placed  them  beyond  the  reach  of  the  coalitions 
of  European  monarchs. 

The  cordial  declarations  of  the  Foreign  Office  of  the  Cen- 


THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE  AND  LATIN  AMERICA  1ST 


tral  American  Government  in  1825,  which  heartily  approved 
the  Doctrine,  have  been  cited  in  another  chapter. 

It  would  be  easy  to  present  other  indorsements  of  the 
Monroe  Doctrine  by  the  Latin  American  countries  in  those 
early  days,  but  these  are  sufficient  to  show  that  at  that  time 
they  had  no  idea  of  anything  being  involved  in  the  doctrine 
which  made  it  dangerous  to  Latin  America.  It  will  be  re- 
membered that  in  the  call  for  the  Panama  Congress  it  was 
proposed  to  make  the  Monroe  declaration  a common  prin- 
ciple of  all  the  American  governments.  This  is  one  of  the 
strongest  indications  that  the  correct  interpretation  of  the 
Doctrine  rejects  the  inference  that  the  United  States  re- 
serves to  itself  the  privilege  of  doing  the  things  she  will  not 
suffer  Europe  to  do.  If  this  earlier  interpretation  had  been 
retained  in  practice  the  present  bitterness  against  the  Doc- 
trine would  never  have  developed  in  Latin  America. 

The  Monroe  message  states  very  clearly  the  three  follow- 
ing propositions : first,  that  there  shall  be  no  future  coloniza- 
tion in  America  by  European  powers;  second,  that  there 
shall  be  no  extension  of  the  monarchical  system  to  republi- 
can America;  third,  that  the  United  States  will  defend  the 
independence  of  these  American  countries  against  European 
aggression.  During  the  years  that  followed  we  seem  to  have 
added  two  corollaries  to  these  three  propositions  : that  Euro- 
pean governments  must  not  acquire  any  of  the  American 
governments’  territory,  even  with  the  consent  of  the  nation 
involved  or  by  the  adjustment  of  boundaries ; and  that  non- 
American  governments  cannot  occupy  any  portion  of  the 
American  republics  even  temporarily  for  the  satisfaction  of 
any  kind  of  claims  against  these  republics.  The  first  three 
of  these  proposals  are  the  original  Doctrine.  The  latter  two 
are  interpretations  allowed  by  the  Doctrine  and  which  have 
developed  out  of  recent  experience  in  dealing  with  the  Carib- 
bean countries. 

INTERPRETATIONS  OF  THE  DOCTRINE 

One  of  the  greatest  questions  most  often  debated  concern- 
ing the  Doctrine  is  whether  or  not  it  is  a purely  selfish  one, 
announced  merely  to  protect  the  United  States,  or  designed 


158 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


as  one  of  those  altruistic  services  which  we  North  Ameri- 
cans like  to  think  we  are  doing  to  help  smaller  nations.  Let 
us  listen  to  what  some  present  North  Americans  say  about 
that  phase  of  the  subject.  Mr.  Root  says: 

“The  Doctrine  is  not  international  law,  but  it  rests  upon 
the  right  of  self-protection  and  that  right  is  recognized  by 
international  law.  The  right  is  a necessary  corollary  of  in- 
dependent sovereignty.  It  is  well  understood  that  the  exer- 
cise of  the  right  of  self-protection  may  and  frequently  does 
extend  in  its  effect  beyond  the  limits  of  territorial  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  state  exercising  it.  * * * The  most  common  exer- 
cise of  the  right  of  self-protection  outside  of  a state’s  own 
territory,  and  in  time  of  peace,  is  the  interposition  of  ob- 
jection to  the  occupation  of  territory,  of  points  of  strategic 
military  or  maritime  advantage,  or  to  indirect  accomplish- 
ment of  this  effect  by  dynastic  arrangement.  * * * Of  course 
each  state  must  judge  for  itself  when  a threatened  act  will 
create  such  a situation.  If  any  state  objects  to  a threatened 
act  and  the  reasonableness  of  its  objection  is  not  assented  to, 
the  efficacy  of  the  objection  will  depend  upon  the  power  be- 
hind it. 

“It  is  doubtless  true  that  in  the  adherence  of  the  American 
people  to  the  original  declaration  there  was  a great  element 
of  sentiment  and  sympathy  for  the  people  of  South  America 
who  were  struggling  for  freedom,  and  it  has  been  a source 
of  great  satisfaction  to  the  United  States  that  the  course 
which  it  took  in  1823  concurrently  with  the  action  of  Great 
Britain  played  so  great  a part  in  assuring  the  right  of  self- 
government  to  the  countries  of  South  America.  Yet  is  it  to 
be  observed  that  in  reference  to  the  South  American  Govern- 
ments, as  in  all  other  respects,  the  international  right  upon 
which  the  declaration  expressly  rests  is  not  sentiment  or 
sympathy  or  a claim  to  dictate  what  kind  of  government  any 
other  country  shall  have,  but  the  safety  of  the  United 
States.” 

Mr.  John  Bassett  Moore  says: 

“The  Monroe  Doctrine  was  in  its  origin  a defiance  to 


THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE  AND  LATIN  AMERICA  159 

those  who  would  suppress  independent  governments  and  re- 
store the  system  of  commercial  monopoly  and  political  ab- 
solutism on  the  American  continents.  It  was  in  this  sense 
that  it  found  an  enthusiastic  response  in  popular  opinion  ” 

Ex-President  Taft  has  seen  this  point  very  clearly  and 
says : 

“The  Monroe  Doctrine  was  proclaimed  for  the  purpose 
of  upholding  the  territorial  dignity  and  political  independ- 
ence of  the  nations  of  South  and  Central  America.  It  binds 
the  United  States  to  the  exact  course  which  the  League  of 
Nations  demands  of  all  nations.” 

Mr.  Henry  W.  Taft  says : 

“The  Monroe  Doctrine  is  not  a principle  of  international 
law.  It  is  a national  policy  based  on  the  right  of  every  na- 
tion to  protect  itself  against  acts  tending  to  embarrass  it  in 
preserving  its  own  national  interests  or  political  institu- 
tions. It  is  founded  upon  the  same  right  as  the  familiar 
concert  of  European  powers,  except  that  it  affects  a greater 
number  of  nations  more  widely  separated  geographically, 
and  is  asserted  by  a single  powerful  nation,  able,  without 
the  sanction  of  treaty  stipulations,  to  maintain  it.  It  does 
not  become  effective  so  much  by  the  acquiescence  of  the 
American  nations  subject  to  its  operation  as  from  its  recog- 
nition by  nations  of  other  parts  of  the  world  as  a political 
policy  which  cannot  be  disregarded  by  them  except  at  the 
risk  of  war  with  the  United  States.” 

Mr.  John  Bigelow  says : 

“In  order  properly  to  appreciate  the  significance  of  the 
Monroe  Doctrine  it  must  be  clearly  recognized  that  it  was 
designed  primarily  for  the  protection  of  the  United  States, 
the  safeguarding  of  its  territory  and  political  institutions, 
the  effect  of  which  would  be,  indirectly,  to  work  to  the 
advantage  of  the  Latin  American  countries  by  affording 


160 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


them  the  opportunity  to  work  out  their  problems  without 
interference  from  European  powers.” 

Secretary  of  State  Lansing  gave  the  Senate  the  following 
account  of  the  conversations  which  led  to  the  Lansing-Ishii 
agreement : 

“Then  it  was  during  the  same  interview  that  we  men- 
tioned ‘paramount  interests,’  and  he  (Ishii)  made  a refer- 
ence to  the  Monroe  Doctrine  of  the  Far  East;  and  I told 
him  that  there  seemed  to  be  a misconception  as  to  the  un- 
derlying principle  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine;  that  it  was  not 
an  assertion  of  primary  or  paramount  interest  by  the 
United  States  in  its  relation  to  other  American  republics; 
that  its  purpose  was  to  prevent  foreign  powers  from  inter- 
fering with  the  separate  rights  of  any  nation  in  this  hemi- 
sphere and  that  the  whole  aim  was  to  preserve  to  each  re- 
public the  power  of  self-development.  I said  further  that 
so  far  as  aiding  in  this  development  the  United  States 
claimed  no  special  privileges  over  other  countries.” 

Rear-Admiral  Chester  says : 

“The  first  principle  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine — self-pres- 
ervation— is  axiomatic  and  immutable,  and  all  other  consid- 
erations must  give  way  to  it.  The  second  principle,  like  the 
constitution  of  a country,  is  amenable  to  changes  and 
amendments  that  will  bring  it  into  accord  with  new  condi- 
tions that  may  arise  in  the  country.  The  question  now, 
therefore,  is,  do  the  same  conditions  prevail  on  the  western 
continent  today  as  in  1823?  * * * Many  of  the  twenty  other 
American  Republics  are  no  longer  the  weaklings  they  were 
when  the  policy  was  formulated,  but  are  now  strong  enough 
to  share  the  common  defense  of  the  continent.  We  cannot, 
however,  with  propriety  form  an  alliance,  for  that  word 
has  been  tabooed  by  an  unwritten  law  of  the  land,  but  we 
can  engage  in  an  ‘entente,’  as  foreigners  call  it,  with  the 
republics  of  South  America  that  will  give  them  a share  in 
the  responsibility  of  maintaining  a policy  which  looks  to  the 
good  of  all  parties  concerned.” 

As  Admiral  Chester  says,  the  Doctrine  is  partly  selfish 


THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE  AND  LATIN  AMERICA  161 


and  partly  altruistic,  as  every  natural  principle  should  be.  It 
seems  very  natural  to  suppose  that  the  United  States,  being 
a weak  nation  in  the  early  days,  was  particularly  interested 
in  protecting  herself  and  also  in  advancing  the  great  idea 
of  democracy  of  which  she  was  the  pathfinder.  Democratic 
government  she  selfishly  and  unselfishly  desired  to  see  grow 
— selfishly  in  that  the  development  of  such  government  on 
the  American  continent  would  tend  to  strengthen  her  own 
life,  unselfishly  in  that  she  wished  to  encourage  and  assist 
other  small  nations  to  realize  the  same  ideal. 

A more  practical  question  concerning  the  application  of 
the  Monroe  Doctrine  is  the  extent  to  which  the  United 
States  assumes  responsibility  before  the  world  for  the  short- 
comings of  the  other  American  nations.  If  we  say  to  Eu- 
rope, “You  are  to  keep  completely  out  of  this  continent,” 
how  far  do  we  expect  to  see  to  the  just  settlement  of  Euro- 
pean complaints  against  those  countries?  Consider,  for 
example,  the  matter  of  the  collection  of  debts.  If  we  will 
not  let  France  enter  Santo  Domingo  and  take  a couple  of 
ports  in  payment  of  a $10,000,000  debt,  how  far  shall 
we  interfere  to  make  Santo  Domingo  pay?  If  an  English 
subject  is  killed  in  Mexico  and  we  do  not  allow  England 
to  obtain  satisfaction  by  seizing  Mexican  territory,  how  far 
are  we  to  assume  the  authority  to  punish  Mexico  and  force 
her  to  deal  fairly  with  England? 

We  have  stated  (Roosevelt  said  it,  and  it  has  been  inti- 
mated many  times  by  our  government)  that  we  will  not 
keep  European  governments  from  collecting  their  debts  in 
the  American  republics.  In  fact  we  have  permitted  them 
to  take  measures  to  enforce  payment  of  such  debts  as  long 
as  this  did  not  mean  territorial  acquisition  by  them.  At  the 
time  when  intervention  in  Mexico  was  begun,  with  the  an- 
nounced purpose  of  collecting  debts  which  she  owed  Great 
Britain,  France  and  Spain,  the  United  States  was  invited 
to  join  with  them.  The  situation  was  tried  out  to  ascertain 
our  attitude,  and  Secretary  Seward  wrote  that  the  United 
States  had  no  objection  to  these  countries  collecting  their 
debts  from  Mexico.  When  it  came  to  the  establishment  of 
a monarchy  in  Mexico,  however,  our  attitude  was  very  dif- 
ferent. 


162 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


We  have  never  agreed  with  certain  Latin  American 
statesmen  that  debts  should  never  be  collected  forcibly.  We 
have  adopted  the  Hague  agreement  that  the  question  of 
debts  of  this  kind  shall  be  arbitrated,  but  we  have  under- 
taken to  use  moral  suasion  and  more  recently  have  actually 
assumed  responsibility  for  managing  the  finances  of  certain 
republics  in  order  to  save  them  from  a foreign  foreclosure. 
We  have  thus  assumed  a protectorate  over  both  Santo  Do- 
mingo and  Haiti  because  it  was  claimed  that  these  coun- 
tries were  likely  to  be  seized  by  European  countries  for  non- 
payment of  debt.  But  we  have  still  to  determine  how  far 
we  will  go  in  straightening  out  the  financial  difficulties  of 
Latin  American  countries  that  seem  to  be  in  danger  from 
European  creditors. 

The  precedent  of  Santo  Domingo,  Haiti  and  Nicaragua 
seems  to  indicate  pretty  clearly  that,  at  least  in  the  Carib- 
bean, or  what  Admiral  Chester  calls  the  “larger  Panama 
Canal  Zone,”  we  will  take  action  before  risking  that  of 
any  foreign  country.  Indeed,  diplomatic  aid  in  resuscitat- 
ing the  finances  of  Honduras,  Cuba,  Costa  Rica  and  pos- 
sibly Mexico  is  now  being  extended  by  the  United  States, 
although  in  the  case  of  Mexico  the  proceedings  are  still 
in  the  formative  stage.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the 
shift  in  world  credit  due  to  the  war  makes  it  altogether  prob- 
able that  the  United  States  will  itself  more  and  more  as- 
sume the  role  of  creditor  to  these  republics  and  that  prob- 
lems in  connection  with  payment  of  debts  will  be  given  an 
entirely  new  turn.  European  nations  are  not  in  position  to 
finance  foreign  governments  to  any  great  extent,  however 
profitable  it  might  be. 

It  has  been  suggested  by  some  thoughtful  students  that 
the  Monroe  Doctrine  should  be  limited  to  Caribbean  coun- 
tries or  at  least  those  north  of  the  Amazon,  for  the  reason 
that  the  zone  of  defense  of  the  Canal  and  of  the  continental 
United  States  extends  no  further  than  that,  and  also  for  the 
reason  that  the  countries  further  south  have  grown  strong 
in  their  own  power  and  neither  need  nor  appreciate  our 
proffered  protection.  While  a formal  pronouncement  of 
any  such  limitation  of  the  Doctrine  will  probably  never  be 
made,  it  is  almost  certain  that  its  application  will  be  limited 


THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE  AND  LATIN  AMERICA  163 


to  this  northern  zone,  as  has  been  the  case  in  the  past.  It 
may  well  be  recalled  in  this  connection  that  even  when  Eng- 
land and  France  intervened  in  Argentina  and  Spain  in  Chile 
and  Peru,  the  United  States  did  no  more  than  express  sym- 
pathy to  these  countries.  In  this  connection  Dr.  Estanislao 
Zaballos,  of  Buenos  Aires,  has  said: 

“What  other  countries  of  America  have  the  same  world 
problems  as  Panama  or  Mexico,  the  latter  on  the  frontier  of 
the  United  States  and  the  former  at  the  throat  of  the  conti- 
nent itself?  They  have  nothing  in  common  with  the  prob- 
lems of  the  La  Plata  or  the  shores  of  Brazil  or  the  coasts 
of  Chile.  The  Monroe  Doctrine  is  necessary  today  to  the 
United  States.  The  Caribbean  washes  the  shores  of  the 
richest  part  of  the  United  States  and  it  is  necessary  that  it 
be  dominated  by  them  in  order  to  guarantee  the  independ- 
ence and  security  of  the  United  States.” 

The  most  important  question  concerning  the  Doctrine  is 
whether  it  means  that  Europe  must  stay  out  of  Hispanic 
American  affairs  and  that  the  United  States  may  go  in,  or 
simply  that  Europe  shall  stay  out.  It  is  difficult  to  see  any- 
thing in  the  Monroe  Doctrine  to  justify  the  assumption  of 
an  aggressive  policy  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  toward 
Latin  America.  The  original  doctrine  claims  nothing  for 
the  United  States  that  it  does  not  concede  to  every  other 
American  nation.  If  in  the  Monroe  Doctrine  the  United 
States  arrogates  to  itself  supremacy  in  the  western  hemi- 
sphere, it  is  only  with  respect  to  non-American  powers,  and 
with  respect  to  them  it  wishes  every  American  nation  to  be 
supreme.  There  is  nothing  in  it  that  makes  its  provisions  a 
monopoly  by  the  United  States.  The  proclamation  of  a 
similar  doctrine  by  each  of  the  other  American  nations 
would  strengthen  rather  than  impair  the  force  of  the  Monroe 
declaration. 

In  his  address  at  the  unveiling  of  the  Bolivar  statue  in  New 
York  President  Harding  clearly  emphasized  that  the  United 
States  reserves  no  special  privileges  to  itself  under  the  Mon- 
roe Doctrine.  Speaking  to  the  entire  Latin  American  diplo- 
matic corps  he  said : 


164  PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 

"There  have  been  times  when  the  meaning  of  Monroeism 
was  misunderstood  by  some,  perverted  by  others  and  made 
the  subject  of  distorting  propaganda  by  those  who  saw  in 
it  an  obstacle  to  the  realization  of  their  own  ambitions. 
* * * They  have  falsely  charged  that  we  sought  to  hold  the 
nations  of  the  Old  World  at  arm’s  length  in  order  that  we 
might  monopolize  the  privilege  of  exploitation  for  ourselves. 
Others  have  protested  that  the  Doctrine  would  never  be 
enforced  if  to  enforce  it  should  involve  us  in  actual  hos- 
tilities. 

"The  history  of  the  generations  since  that  Doctrine  was 
proclaimed  has  proved  that  we  never  intended  it  selfishly; 
that  we  had  no  dream  of  exploitation.  On  the  other  side, 
the  history  of  the  last  decade  certainly  must  have  convinced 
all  the  world  that  we  stand  willing  to  fight,  if  necessary,  to 
protect  these  continents,  these  sturdy  young  democracies, 
from  oppression  and  tyranny.” 

Nevertheless  the  Monroe  Doctrine  has  been  a continual 
source  of  irritation  to  the  Latin  American  nations.  At  first 
they  accepted  it  gladly,  as  we  have  seen,  as  protecting  them 
from  Europe,  but  later  we  see  it  becoming  in  their  eyes  an 
instrument  through  which  the  United  States  presumed  to 
dictate  to  them.  "America  for  the  Americans,”  they  say, 
means  "America  for  the  North  Americans.” 

In  the  early  days  no  such  talk  was  heard  as  this  of  Senor 
Jose  de  Astorga,  writing  in  La  Revista  de  America: 

“ * * * The  importance  of  securing  concerted  movement 
and  unanimity  of  action  among  the  countries  of  Latin 
America  in  order  to  offset  the  imperialistic  ambitions  of  the 
United  States  is  urgent  and  of  extreme  importance.  The 
protests  of  con- fraternity,  of  disinterestedness  and  of  re- 
spect for  the  political  sovereignty  and  the  commercial  inde- 
pendence of  Latin  America  which  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  sets  forth  so  freely  on  every  occasion,  are  not 
able  to  counteract  or  to  lessen  the  eloquence  of  deeds,  and 
these  are  the  deeds:  Tutelage  over  Cuba;  the  abduction  of 
Panama;  the  embargo  on  the  custom  houses  of  Santo  Do- 


THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE  AND  LATIN  AMERICA  165 


mingo;  economic  and  military  intervention  in  Central 
America;  the  ‘big  stick,’  ‘dollar  diplomacy’  and  the  Lodge 
declaration.” 

The  Latin  Americans,  however,  are  not  alone  in  interpret- 
ing the  Monroe  Doctrine  as  meaning  that  the  United  States 
retains  the  right  to  control  the  western  hemisphere.  There 
are  not  a few  North  Americans  who  hold  this  view.  These 
extracts  from  “America  Among  the  Nations”  by  Prof.  H. 
H.  Powers,  are  certainly  disquieting: 

“It  is  difficult  to  follow  the  expansion  of  America  in  the 
Caribbean  without  feeling  that  it  will  go  farther.  Whether 
it  should  go  farther  is  not  the  question.  This  is  neither  an 
indictment  nor  a propaganda,  but  a study.  No  more  is  as- 
sumed than  that  national  character  shows  a certain  continu- 
ity, and  that  incentives  which  have  been  potent  in  the  past 
are  likely  to  be  potent  in  the  future.  If  so  much  be  con- 
ceded, then  the  further  development  of  Caribbean  domina- 
tion seems  assured.  If  the  considerations  which  have  im- 
pelled us  to  restrict  the  liberty  of  Cuba,  to  take  over  the 
financial  problems  of  Santo  Domingo  and  to  assume  the 
management  of  Haiti,  are  legitimate,  then  there  is  more 
work  of  this  kind  for  us  to  do.  Conditions  were  no  worse 
in  Haiti  than  in  other  Caribbean  countries.  Utter  reckless- 
ness and  incompetency  have  characterized  the  management 
of  every  one  of  these  pseudo-states  which  the  preoccupations 
of  the  real  nations  have  temporarily  abandoned  to  independ- 
ence. It  was  a matter  of  chance  which  one  of  the  dancers 
should  first  pay  the  piper,  but  all  have  danced  and  all  must 
pay.  As  each  faces  in  turn  the  inevitable  crisis,  the  same 
problem  presents  itself.  What  reason  is  there  to  believe 
that  we  shall  not  meet  it  in  the  same  way?” 

“To  the  independence  party  Central  America  is  its  own 
little  world.  To  the  imperialistic  party  it  is  but  a pawn  on 
the  mighty  chessboard  of  world  empire.  We  may  sympa- 
thize with  the  one  or  the  other  but  we  must  not  judge  the 
one  by  the  standards  of  the  other.  The  United  States  plays 
the  vaster  game,  must  play  it  and  play  it  well,  for  the  stake 
is  its  existence.” 


166 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


“We  have  learned  subtler  ways  of  winning-,  more  varied 
ways  of  ruling.  We  have  found  new  reasons  for  old  im- 
pulses, and  old  impulses  have  renewed  their  youth. 

“Finally,  we  are  still  confronted  with  opportunity.  More 
than  any  other  people  we  have  prizes  within  our  grasp.  And 
we  are  grasping  them.  Never  was  our  frontier  more  alive 
than  it  is  today.  Acquisition  of  new  territory  has  become 
a commonplace  and  passes  unnoticed.  Not  one  American 
in  a hundred  realizes  that  we  have  a protectorate  over  Haiti 
and  that  our  control  is  creeping  out  through  all  these  south- 
ern seas.  If  he  knew,  his  only  reaction  would  probably  be 
a slightly  increased  complacency.  The  door  is  thus  opened 
wide  for  a government,  embarrassed  by  the  mischievous  ir- 
responsibility of  these  petty  make-believe  states,  to  take 
refuge  in  an  ever-broadening  imperialism.  Unless  the  leop- 
ard changes  his  spots  this  must  carry  our  frontier  to  the 
limits  we  have  mentioned.” 

“Nor  is  the  call  of  the  tropics  the  only  one.  The  war 
upon  which  we  have  now  embarked  has  incalculable  possi- 
bilities. We  are  committed  not  merely  to  the  redressing  of 
our  grievances  to  date,  but  to  the  vastly  larger  program  of 
settling  such  difficulties  as  the  war  itself  may  create.  With- 
out taking  too  seriously  the  fascinating  program  of  ‘mak- 
ing the  world  safe  for  democracy,’  it  is  well  to  remember 
that  the  war  is  to  be  fought  on  European  soil  and  in  con- 
junction with  nations  having  possessions  in  every  part  of 
the  world.  When  the  peace  conference  meets  we  shall  hear 
very  little  of  the  sonorous  slogans  which  heralded  the  war’s 
beginning  and  much  of  the  concrete  problems  for  which 
these  phrases  suggest  no  very  tangible  solution.” 

Such  arguments  as  these  certainly  do  not  represent  the 
best  North  American  thought,  yet  they  are  common  enough 
to  spread  wide  alarm  in  Latin  America. 

Probably  the  most  illuminating  discussion  of  the  present 
Latin  American  attitude  toward  the  Monroe  Doctrine  was 
the  debate  in  1914  in  the  columns  of  the  Atlantic  Monthly 
between  Professor  Hiram  Bingham  and  Senor  F.  Garcia 
Calderon.  Professor  Bingham’s  article  was  entitled  “The 
Monroe  Doctrine,  an  Obsolete  Shibboleth.”  He  argues  for 


THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE  AND  LATIN  AMERICA  167 

the  abandonment  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  on  the  following 
grounds : 

1.  The  Doctrine  was  proclaimed  under  a false  conception 
of  (a)  geographical  proximity,  for  the  great  centers  of 
South  American  life  are  nearer  to  Europe  than  to  the  United 
States,  and  (b)  the  existence  of  natural  sympathy,  which  is 
difficult  to  encounter  in  Latin  America. 

2.  Latin  America  resents  our  attitude  of  being  “practi- 
cally sovereign  on  the  continent”  and  opposed  our  war  with 
Spain,  our  interference  in  Panama,  Santo  Domingo,  etc. 

3.  It  places  the  United  States  in  the  false  position  of 
being  the  collector  of  Europe’s  debts,  bringing  our  interven- 
tion in  these  states  on  many  false  grounds  and  thus  multi- 
plying the  prejudice  of  Latin  America  against  us. 

4.  The  great  growth  of  some  of  the  South  American 
states  in  recent  years  is  ignored  in  the  application  of  the 
Doctrine.  As  Viscount  Bryce  represents  them  as  saying, 
“Since  there  are  no  longer  rain  clouds  coming  up  from  the 
East,  why  should  our  friend,  however  well-intentioned,  in- 
sist on  holding  an  umbrella  over  us?” 

Professor  Bingham  concludes: 

“Let  us  face  clearly  the  fact  that  the  maintenance  of  the 
Monroe  Doctrine  is  going  to  cost  the  United  States  an  im- 
mense amount  of  trouble,  men  and  money.  Carried  out  to 
its  logical  conclusion  it  means  a policy  of  suzerainty  and  in- 
terference which  will  earn  us  the  increased  hatred  of  our 
neighbors,  the  dissatisfaction  of  Europe,  the  loss  of  com- 
mercial opportunity  and  the  forfeit  of  time  and  attention 
which  would  better  be  given  to  settling  our  own  difficult  in- 
ternal problems.  The  continuance  of  adherence  to  the  Mon- 
roe Doctrine  offers  opportunity  to  scheming  statesmen  to 
distract  public  opinion  from  the  necessity  of  concentrated 
attention  at  home  by  arousing  mingled  feelings  of  jingo- 
ism and  self-importance  in  attempting  to  correct  the  errors 
of  our  neighbors.” 

Senor  Calderon,  whom  readers  of  his  “Latin  America,  Its 


168 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


Rise  and  Progress,”  would  certainly  not  accuse  of  being  par- 
tial to  the  United  States,  strongly  maintained  the  usefulness 
of  the  Doctrine  and  its  acceptability  to  Latin  America  if 
properly  interpreted.  He  said: 

“If  the  United  States  would  affirm  that  it  also  is  in  ac- 
cord with  the  sovereign  republics  of  the  south,  that  it  re- 
spects the  territorial  status  quo  in  this  American  continent 
which  its  own  triumphant  expansion  seems  to  threaten,  an 
American  system  of  law  would  be  established,  and  the  union 
of  the  two  races  which  govern  this  huge  continent  would 
become  a political  fact  of  most  far-reaching  consequence. 
We  should  be  face  to  face,  then,  with  a new  Monroeism  as 
the  doctrine  of  American  autonomy,  accepted  and  pro- 
claimed by  all  the  peoples  oversea,  who  would  agree  to 
protect  one  another  against  all  future  attempts  at  con- 
quest, and  then,  in  place  of  this  vexing  and  harassing  tute- 
lage, we  should  have  a sturdy  declaration  of  American 
solidarity. 

“Even  by  1911  these  generous  plans  showed  signs  of  de- 
velopment. The  United  States,  Brazil  and  Argentina, 
through  friendly  intervention,  averted  an  imminent  war  be- 
tween Peru  and  Ecuador.  When  they  pacified  Central 
America,  Mexico  came  to  their  aid,  and  thenceforward  their 
action  no  longer  bore  any  resemblance  to  the  intrusion  of 
foreigners.  It  was  in  the  name  of  a doctrine  not  only  North 
American  but  Pan  American  that  the  peoples  of  the  New 
World  addressed  the  powerful  nations  which  stood  ready  to 
tear  them  in  pieces.  No  one  then  criticised  this  intervention 
of  the  great  countries  of  the  New  World,  of  North  Saxon 
and  South  Latin.  The  United  States  played  its  part  also — ■ 
which  made  its  moral  influence  acceptable  to  the  Spanish 
American  nations. 

“In  principle  the  Monroe  Doctrine  is  an  essential  article  in 
the  public  code  of  the  New  World.  Two  newspapers  of 
Buenos  Aires,  La  Argentina  and  La  Razon,  have  come  to 
recognize  it  as  such.  In  them  we  read  that  the  L'nited  States 
is  the  ‘safeguard  of  American  interests,’  and  they  praise  the 
North  American  republic  for  the  paternal  protection  which 
it  offers.  It  is  only  the  brutal  expression  of  the  Doctrine, 


THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE  AND  LATIN  AMERICA  169 


the  cynical  imperialism  which  is  deduced  from  it,  which  be- 
comes dangerous  to  the  moral  unity  of  the  continent. 

“The  wisest  statesmen  have  no  thought  of  divorcing  this 
doctrine  from  the  future  history  of  America,  even  when 
they  criticise  its  excesses  most  severely. 

“The  men  of  the  North  have  a civilizing  function  to  fulfill 
in  a continent  wherein  they  exercise  supreme  power.  If 
their  behavior  is  disinterested,  if  they  prevent  war,  if  they 
fertilize  these  new  countries  abundantly  with  the  gold  of 
their  banks,  if  they  become  apostles  of  peace  and  interna- 
tional justice,  no  one  will  ever  forget  the  grandeur  of  their 
political  role  in  the  world’s  politics. 

“In  considering  the  behavior  of  the  United  States  toward 
its  neighbors,  we  must  distinguish  quite  clearly  between  its 
attitude  regarding  Panama  and  its  policy  toward  countries 
south  of  the  Isthmus.  Toward  South  America  its  interven- 
tion deserves  only  respect.  The  purely  selfish  interest  of  the 
United  States  evidently  lay  in  the  acceptance  of  war  and  an- 
archy, in  accordance  with  the  classical  formula  ‘divide  and 
rule’;  yet  the  United  States  has  kept  the  peace.  From  Pan- 
ama to  the  La  Plata  it  is  working  for  the  union  of  the  peo- 
ples and  for  civilization. 

“Here,  then,  is  an  aspect  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  of  per- 
petual usefulness  : the  struggle  against  the  wars  which  threat- 
en to  ruin  the  New  World,  still  poor  and  thinly  populated — 
intervention  with  the  olive  branch.  In  stimulating  the  union 
of  South  American  republics  the  United  States  is  at  the 
same  time  protecting  its  own  commercial  interests,  menaced 
by  this  perpetual  turmoil.  If  its  action  were  to  halt  there,  if 
it  renounced  all  territorial  acquisition  and  set  its  face  against 
all  interference  with  the  internal  affairs  of  every  state,  the 
doctrine  so  often  condemned  would  seem  born  anew  and  no 
one  would  dare  to  criticize  its  efficacy.  Most  of  all,  it  is  on 
the  score  of  irregular  political  practices,  of  fomenting  revo- 
lution, that  the  excessive  tutelage  of  the  United  States  comes 
in  for  most  widespread  condemnation.  An  Argentine  writ- 
er, Manuel  Ugarte,  has  summarized  this  sentiment  in  the 
phrase,  ‘We  wish  to  be  brothers  of  the  North  Americans, 
not  their  slaves.’  Even  if  this  tutelage  were  designed  to 
prepare  democracies  without  democratic  tradition  for  self- 


170 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


government  after  the  Saxon  method;  even  if,  as  in  the  case 
of  Cuba,  it  is  granted  partial  liberty  and  provisional  privi- 
leges, the  passionate  feeling  for  independence  which  is  so 
widespread  throughout  America  would  be  exceedingly  irri- 
tated by  this  rather  contemptuous  method  of  education. 
Great  Britain  pays  more  respect  to  the  autonomy  of  her  col- 
onies than  the  new  Saxon  democracy  is  willing  to  bestow 
upon  the  still  fragile  independence  of  some  American  repub- 
lics. What  would  be  thought  of  the  attitude  of  a Conserva- 
tive minister  of  Great  Britain  who  put  a veto  on  the  action 
of  the  Socialist  government  of  Australia  by  dissolving  the 
colonial  Parliament  and  criticizing  the  laws  of  the  free 
‘Commonwealth’  ? One  cannot  comprehend  the  policy  which 
American  peoples  are  often  obliged  to  endure  in  their  rela- 
tions with  Washington. 

“In  Latin  America  people  do  not  understand  the  United 
States.  A few  offhand  judgments  often  control  the  decision 
which  leads  Latin  America  to  antagonism  or  to  unreflecting 
infatuation.  The  Americans  of  the  North  are  thought  to 
be  ‘practical  people.’  Men  say  that  they  are  intensely  covet- 
ous of  riches.  They  have  no  morality.  The  business  man, 
always  hard  and  arrogant  in  mind  and  brutal  in  method,  is 
the  symbol  of  the  nation.  Ideals,  dreams,  noble  ambitions, 
never  stir  their  breasts.  These  characteristics  of  the  North 
American  the  men  of  the  South,  according  to  their  indi- 
vidual ideas,  admire  or  despise. 

“They  forget  how  austere  is  the  grandeur  that  Ameri- 
cans of  the  North  acquire  from  their  superb  idealism,  from 
their  strong  Puritan  tradition,  from  the  lust  of  gold  made 
subservient  to  ambition  for  power  and  for  influence  over 
men.  They  are  ignorant  of  the  mysticism  which  forever 
flourishes  in  the  LTnited  States,  continually  creating  new 
sects,  the  perpetual  Christian  Renaissance  whose  energy  was 
so  greatly  admired  by  William  James.  We  must  admit  that 
in  South  American  countries,  with  their  narrow  and  super- 
ficial religiosity,  we  do  not  find  this  great  concern  regard- 
ing the  line  which  divides  the  ideal  from  the  fact.  The  ex- 
ample of  the  United  States,  the  reading  of  its  poets,  the 
study  of  Emerson,  the  influence  of  its  universities,  an  ex- 
amination of  the  part  which  wealth  has  played  in  this  de- 


THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE  AND  LATIN  AMERICA  171 


mocracy,  would,  I conceive,  go  far  toward  reforming  the 
bad  manners  of  the  South  and  make  it  appreciate  the  true 
fundamentals  of  the  grandeur  of  North  America. 

“In  my  book  on  the  Latin  democracies  I have  set  forth 
the  contrasts  which  may  easily  be  established  between  the 
Catholicism  of  the  Spanish  Americans,  the  state  religion, 
uniform  and  formal,  and  the  restless  and  active  Protestant- 
ism of  the  United  States ; between  the  mixture  of  races  in 
the  South  and  that  racial  pride,  ‘the  white  man’s  burden,’ 
which  controls  northern  opinion.  It  would  be  very  easy  to 
push  this  analysis  further  and  to  set  forth  the  strength  of 
aristocratic  prejudices  among  the  Spaniards  and  the  very 
democratic  spirit  which  exists  among  the  Saxons ; to  con- 
trast the  idealism  of  the  North  with  the  less  vast,  less  gen- 
erous ambition  of  the  South;  or  the  stanch,  puritanical  do- 
mestic life  among  the  South  Americans  with  a certain  license 
of  morals  which  exists  in  North  America.  But,  in  spite  of 
this  sharp  contrast,  there  are  resemblances  not  less  evident 
than  the  divergent  traits,  an  Americanism  which  gives  a 
certain  unity  to  the  entire  New  World.  All  evidence  points 
to  the  conclusion  that  if  the  United  States  acts  in  accord 
with  Latin  America,  if  the  Monroe  Doctrine  loses  its  ag- 
gressive character,  the  influence  of  these  twenty  nations 
will  be  a force  in  the  world’s  progress  which  cannot  be  de- 
spised.” 

That  is  the  serious  judgment  of  one  of  the  great  Latin 
American  writers  and  diplomats,  a man  who  becomes  most 
indignant  when  he  discusses  North  American  imperialism. 

CONFUSION  OF  THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE  WITH  OTHER 
POLICIES 

With  the  passing  of  the  years  the  Monroe  Doctrine  has 
been  confused  with  at  least  three  new  ideas  that  have  grown 
up  during  the  period  of  our  relations  with  the  rest  of  the 
American  continent.  In  the  first  place,  we  have  confused  it 
with  the  headship  of  the  United  States  in  America. 

The  United  States  has  developed  a hundred  times  more 
rapidly  than  any  other  country  in  America,  and  as  a nat- 


172 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


ural  outgrowth  of  that  development  it  has  necessarily  as- 
sumed the  headship  of  the  American  nations.  It  is  more 
or  less  the  story  of  all  history.  The  process  is  similar  to  that 
by  which  the  Bishop  of  Rome  became  the  Pope — the  smaller 
bishoprics  sent  their  problems  to  the  great  man  in  the  city 
and  thus  his  influence  developed  until  he  became  supreme. 
In  the  same  way  the  United  States  has  grown  very  nat- 
urally into  a position  of  leadership  on  the  American  conti- 
nent. Whether  we  like  it  or  whether  Latin  America  likes 
it,  there  is  no  way  of  preventing  the  most  advanced  and 
most  powerful  nation  in  the  group  from  exercising  the 
greatest  influence. 

This  headship  signified,  among  other  things,  that  we  must 
lead  in  the  building  of  the  Panama  Canal,  though  of  course 
it  did  not  prescribe  the  method.  It  likewise  meant  that  we 
must  acquire  naval  stations  and  zones  of  influence  for  the 
protection  of  the  Canal  and  all  that  that  implies.  But  the 
Monroe  Doctrine  has  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  this. 
These  things  came  about  from  the  position  we  necessarily 
assumed  as  the  greatest  nation  on  the  continent.  Perhaps 
we  did  not  have  to  do  it  in  quite  the  way  we  did ; better  ways 
could  have  been  found.  Nevertheless  the  burden  was  laid 
upon  us  and  we  could  not  get  away  from  it,  so  we  took  the 
lead  just  as  other  great  nations  have  done  in  other  parts  of 
the  world  where  their  influence  was  dominant.  Thus  the 
various  “Pan  American  Congresses”  met  with  little  success 
until  the  greatest  American  nation  entered  and  lent  its  over- 
powering influence  to  their  promotion. 

The  second  principle  with  which  the  Monroe  Doctrine  is 
confused  is  that  of  imperialism.  Imperialism  has  nothing 
to  do  with  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  but  is  merely  one  of  those 
tendencies  of  modern  nations  to  take  over  smaller  and  more 
poorly  organized  countries.  We  have  been  following  other 
peoples  in  doing  that,  for  the  tendency  is  not  only  world- 
wide but  is  a factor  in  the  economic  as  well  as  the  political 
field  today.  Most  of  our  territory  has  really  been  gained  at 
the  expense  of  other  nations.  Let  it  be  said  to  our  credit, 
however,  that,  in  contrast  with  most  modern  imperialistic 
nations,  we  bought  most  of  the  territory  acquired.  This  is 
our  imperialistic  policy,  a thing  apart  from  the  Monroe  Doc- 


THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE  AND  LATIN  AMERICA  173 


trine.  Let  us  remind  our  Latin  American  friends  that  Chile, 
Brazil  and  Argentina  have  done  like  things.  The  big  na- 
tions in  South  America  have  done  as  the  big  nation  in  North 
America.  Of  course  it  is  easy  to  think  the  United  States  is 
the  only  sinner  in  the  world,  but  every  big  nation  is  im- 
perialistic. It  is  not  the  Monroe  Doctrine  that  prompts  us 
to  do  these  things,  it  is  the  great  and  prepossessing  idea  of 
empire  building.  We  are  not  nearly  as  guilty  on  this  score 
as  Great  Britain. 

The  third  point  of  confusion  is  with  the  idea  of  Pan 
Americanism.  By  Pan  Americanism  we  understand  the 
recognition  of  a community  of  interests  among  all  Ameri- 
can countries  and  a determination  to  work  these  out  coop- 
eratively to  the  best  advantage  of  all  concerned.  The  pres- 
ent tendency  is  to  create  a concert  of  American  powers  to 
act  together  for  mutual  protection  and  help,  the  maintenance 
of  peace  and  the  promotion  of  better  commercial,  political 
and  intellectual  relations.  And  this  is  not  the  Monroe  Doc- 
trine. 

These  three  matters  of  headship,  imperialism  and  Pan 
Americanism  have  all  exerted  an  appreciable  influence  in 
our  relations  with  Latin  America,  but  they  should  not  be 
confounded  with  Monroeism.  We  will  clarify  our  action 
and  our  understanding  of  all  inter-American  relations  as 
soon  as  we  cease  lumping  everything  related  to  Latin  Amer- 
ica under  the  one  conception  of  Monroeism,  which,  after 
all,  is  to  the  average  citizen  of  the  United  States  largely  a 
sentiment. 

The  address  of  President  Wilson  to  the  Mexican  editors 
probably  delighted  Latin  America  more  than  any  other  offi- 
cial utterance  with  the  exception  of  Mr.  Root’s  famous 
speech  at  Rio  de  Janeiro.  Mr.  Wilson  said: 

“The  famous  Monroe  Doctrine  was  adopted  without  your 
consent,  without  the  consent  of  any  of  the  Central  or  South 
American  states.  If  I may  express  it  in  the  terms  that  we 
so  often  use  in  this  country,  we  said,  ‘We  are  going  to  be 
your  big  brother  whether  you  want  us  to  be  or  not.’  We  did 
not  ask  whether  it  was  agreeable  to  you  that  we  should  be 
your  big  brother.  We  said  we  were  going  to  be.  Now  that 


174  PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 

was  all  very  well  so  far  as  protecting  you  from  aggression 
from  the  other  side  of  the  water  was  concerned,  but  there 
was  nothing  in  it  that  protected  you  from  aggression  from 
us,  and  I have  repeatedly  seen  the  uneasy  feeling  on  the  part 
of  representatives  of  the  states  of  Central  and  South  Amer- 
ica that  our  self-appointed  protection  might  be  for  our  own 
benefit  and  our  own  interests  and  not  for  the  interests  of 
our  neighbors.  So  I said,  ‘Very  well,  let  us  make  some  ar- 
rangement by  which  we  will  give  bond.  Let  us  have  a com- 
mon guarantee,  that  all  of  us  will  sign,  of  political  independ- 
ence and  territorial  integrity.  Let  us  agree  that  if  any  one 
of  us,  the  United  States  included,  violates  the  political  in- 
dependence or  the  territorial  integrity  of  any  of  the  others, 
all  the  others  will  jump  on  her.’  ” 

THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE  AND  THE  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS 

What  effect  has  the  World  War,  which  has  affected  all 
international  relations,  had  on  the  Monroe  Doctrine?  In 
answering  this  question  one  is  again  confronted  with  the 
basic  question  of  the  meaning  of  the  Doctrine.  President 
Wilson  said,  in  addressing  the  Senate  on  June  22,  1917,  that 
“The  nations  should  with  one  accord  adopt  the  doctrine  of 
President  Monroe  as  the  doctrine  of  the  world.”  He  ex- 
plained that  under  this  world  doctrine  no  nation  should  seek 
to  extend  its  policy  over  any  other  nation  or  people,  but 
that  every  people  should  be  left  free  to  determine  its  own 
policy,  its  own  way  of  development,  unhindered,  unthreat- 
ened, unafraid,  the  weak  along  with  the  great  and  powerful. 

President  Wilson’s  understanding  of  the  Monroe  Doc- 
trine is  here  clearly  revealed.  It  is  certainly  not  the  same  as 
Professor  Bingham  had  when  he  advocated  its  abandonment 
because  it  kept  us  from  being  well  regarded  in  Hispanic 
America.  The  simple  Monroe  and  Wilson  insistence  that 
each  nation  shall  have  the  right  to  develop  along  its  own 
lines,  without  interference  from  the  outside,  that  “good 
faith  and  justice  toward  all  nations”  shall  prevail,  represents 
an  entirely  different  conception.  While  Monroe’s  proposal 
was  that  no  European  nation  should  seek  to  extend  its  au- 
thority over  an  American  nation,  Wilson  proposed  that  no 


THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE  AND  LATIN  AMERICA  175 


nation  in  any  part  of  the  world  should  seek  to  extend  its 
polity  over  any  other  nation  or  people. 

This  interpretation  of  the  Doctrine  was  the  one  given  it 
by  President  Cleveland  in  dealing  with  the  Venezuelan 
boundary  dispute,  when  he  said  that  the  Doctrine  found  its 
basis  “in  the  theory  that  every  nation  shall  have  its  rights 
protected  and  its  just  cLims  enforced.”  At  the  same  time 
Secretary  Olney  pointed  out  to  Great  Britain  that  “the  peo- 
ple of  the  United  States  had  a vital  interest  in  the  cause  of 
self-governmer'”  and  that  the  British  attitude  toward  Vene- 
zuela so  threatened  the  American  policy  that  if  the  power 
of  the  United  States  was  adequate  to  prevent  the  carrying 
out  of  British  purposes  it  would  be  done. 

It  is  natural  that  this  Doctrine,  maintained  for  a century 
and  resulting  in  giving  weaker  nations  in  America  a chance 
to  develop  without  outside  interference,  should  be  of  value 
in  developing  a world  policy  that  would  protect  small  na- 
tions. That  the  efficacy  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  has  de- 
pended on  the  force  the  United  States  could  bring  to  its 
support,  suggests  of  course  the  need  of  force  to  support  any 
world  application  of  the  same  principle — the  principle  which 
has  been  recognized  in  the  formation  of  the  League  of 
Nations. 

Just  as  the  Latin  American  peoples  had  favored  the 
original  Monroe  Doctrine  and  appreciated  its  protection 
from  Europe,  so  they  immediately  welcomed  the  extension  of 
the  Doctrine  to  the  whole  world  as  embodied  in  the  League 
of  Nations.  For  strangely  enough  our  southern  neighbors, 
believing  that  the  United  States  has  shifted  from  the  origi- 
nal purpose  of  the  Doctrine  and  is  now  using  it  merely  for 
its  own  selfish  purposes,  saw  in  the  proposal  to  bring  the 
world  into  the  agreement  a guarantee  that  Hispanic  America 
would  not  only  be  protected  from  Europe  but  from  the 
United  States  itself. 

The  League  of  Nations  was  received  with  the  greatest 
enthusiasm  by  all  the  southern  countries.  Here  was  the 
movement  that  would  get  the  American  nations  beyond  the 
impasse  which  had  been  reached  in  the  much  talked-of  Pan 
Americanism.  For,  on  the  one  hand  the  United  States 
could  not  give  up  the  historic  Monroe  Doctrine  and  on  the 


176 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


other  the  Hispanic  Americans  could  never  come  into  free 
relations  with  their  northern  neighbor  if  that  Doctrine 
meant,  as  it  seemed  to  have  come  to  mean,  the  hegemony 
of  the  United  States  in  the  Pan  American  family. 

But  here  was  the  way  out  of  the  dilemma — make  the 
Doctrine  world  wide.  The  United  States  would  surrender 
nothing  of  her  historic  insistence  that  European  nations 
must  not  project  themselves  into  American  life,  and  Latin 
America  would  have  her  fears  and  her  implied  inferiority 
removed,  since  the  United  States  would  thus  assume  the 
same  obligation  to  respect  the  independence  of  the  small 
American  states  as  did  all  other  nations.  Thus  the  greatest 
difficulty  in  the  way  of  continental  solidarity  would  disap- 
pear without  embarrassment  to  any  of  the  parties. 

This  feeling  was  well  expressed  by  the  Cuban,  Orestes 
Ferrara,  in  his  review,  LaReforma  Social,  as  follows: 

“When  Mr.  Wilson  and  Mr.  Taft  refer  to  the  declara- 
tions of  President  Monroe  and  insist  that  the  detachment  of 
American  nations  will  not  receive  a blow  but  on  the  con- 
trary will  be  more  absolute  because  the  Doctrine  is  univer- 
sally accepted  by  the  establishment  of  the  League,  they  say 
something  that  reveals  very  clearly  how  their  minds  turn  to 
the  past  when  the  principle  of  the  independence  of  Ameri- 
can nations  was  threatened  by  the  transference  of  the  conse- 
quences of  another  great  European  conflict  to  American  soil. 
Evidently  Wilson  and  Taft  regard  the  Monroe  Doctrine  in 
its  original  sense,  the  most  just  to  other  rights.  It  is  not 
so  with  Senators  Knox  and  Lodge.  They  think  of  the  Doc- 
trine as  it  has  been  practised  for  the  last  twenty-five  years, 
which  seems  to  have  justified  the  relations  with  Panama, 
Nicaragua,  Santo  Domingo,  Plaiti,  etc.,  and  which  has  estab- 
lished the  absolute  dominion  of  the  United  States  over  the 
Americas.  The  difference  is  therefore  paramount,  being  on 
the  one  hand  a principle  and  on  the  other  a selfish  interest. 

“The  truth  is  that  there  has  never  been  a declaration  in 
the  international  life  of  the  world  with  purer  ideas  and 
more  noble  purposes  than  the  Monroe  Doctrine.  The  North 
American  statesmen  of  that  time  had  the  most  unselfish 
ideas  about  it.  Jefferson,  from  his  retirement,  gave  to  it 


THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE  AND  LATIN  AMERICA  177 


the  whole  endorsement  of  his  serene  mind  and  tranquil  soul. 
But  in  the  course  of  time  the  formula  ‘The  United  States 
standing  before  Europe  in  defense  of  the  Americas’  nat- 
urally brought  the  predominance  of  the  United  States  in 
America.  And  if  the  United  States  had  not  practised  in 
her  international  relations  the  Anglo-Saxon  principle  that 
the  rights  of  others  shall  not  be  interfered  with  unless  one’s 
own  interests  are  clearly  threatened,  a situation  of  this  kind 
would  have  been  fatal  to  the  rest  of  America. 

“To  be  more  specific,  we  may  affirm  that  if  any  other 
nation  than  the  United  States  had  had  her  hands  free  in 
America  as  she  has,  with  power  to  make  or  unmake  the 
map  south  of  the  Rio  Grande  and  even  to  do  so  with  the 
blessings  of  Europe,  the  rights  of  Latin  America  would  have 
suffered  profoundly. 

“But  this  relative  prudence  has  not  vitiated  the  change 
of  form  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  which  makes  it  not  the  old 
powerful  and  unilateral  declaration  of  the  early  days,  but  a 
real  program  of  action  which  permitted  the  Presidents  of 
the  United  States  to  dictate  rules  for  American  international 
politics  and  even  national  political  rules  to  apply  to  other 
countries.  Thus  the  Caribbean  has  come  to  be  considered  as 
a mare  nostrum.  The  United  States  has  come  to  regard  the 
Monroe  Doctrine,  thus  transformed,  as  backing  those  other 
policies — trade  follows  the  flag  and  dollar  diplomacy. 

“Thus  Wilson  and  Taft  on  the  one  hand  and  Lodge  and 
Knox  on  the  other,  since  they  speak  of  different  periods  of 
the  Monroe  Doctrine,  are  both  right  when  one  maintains 
that  the  League  of  Nations  will  maintain  the  Doctrine  intact 
and  the  others  contend  that  the  opposite  is  true. 

“Discussing  the  question  of  the  League,  if  the  United 
States,  having  helped  to  break  the  balance  of  power  in 
Europe  by  defeating  Germany,  should  remain  outside  the 
alliance  of  the  victorious  nations,  her  isolation  will  not  mean 
her  strength  but  her  weakness.  The  obligations  of  the  Mon- 
roe Doctrine  would  not  then  be  carried  against  a divided 
Europe,  but  before  an  alliance  of  states  victorious  on  sea 
and  land.  It  is  not  easy  to  prophesy  the  difficulties  of  the 
future,  but  it  can  be  seen  that  the  mission  assumed  by  the 
United  States  will  be  full  of  difficulties,  as  it  has  in  the  past. 


178 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


To  share  jointly  these  responsibilities  would  mean  the  obvi- 
ating of  conflicts  or  diminishing  the  possibility  of  conflicts 
which  may  take  place  not  in  Europe  but  in  the  tranquil 
Americas. 

“On  abandoning  the  rights  of  exclusive  protection,  she 
would  be  free  of  multiplied  responsibilities  and  know  that  if 
a conflict  occurred,  it  would  be  concerning  matters  that  af- 
fected her  directly  and  not  remotely.  The  principles  of 
Washington  and  Monroe  would  have  passed  through  a com- 
plete evolution  and  become  the  admitted  principles  of  all 
humanity,  not  simply  the  canons  of  American  law. 

“The  Monroe  Doctrine  could  thus  become  the  doctrine  of 
the  world.  Only  the  aspirations  of  conquest  which  make 
of  the  doctrine  of  defense  of  the  small  nations  of  this  conti- 
nent an  excuse  for  continual  aggression  approaching  an 
American  Prussianism,  will  have  died  forever.” 

But  this  wise  and  just  solution  of  the  Pan  American 
impasse  was  not  to  be.  A group  of  North  Americans  who 
appreciated  the  necessity  of  protecting  their  own  preroga- 
tives but  not  those  of  any  other  nations,  insisted  on  the 
covenant  of  the  League  making  specific  acknowledgment 
that,  while  all  the  nations  of  the  world  would  surrender  all 
special  privileges  and  rights  of  interference  with  their  neigh- 
bors, the  United  States  must  still  have  the  special  privilege 
of  determining  the  course  of  national  development  in  the 
western  hemisphere.  So  the  following  was  inserted  as 
Article  XXI  of  the  covenant : 

“Nothing  in  this  covenant  shall  be  deemed  to  affect  the 
validity  of  international  engagements  such  as  treaties  of 
arbitration  or  regional  understandings  like  the  Monroe  Doc- 
trine, for  securing  the  maintenance  of  peace.” 

If  this  article  had  gone  further  and  defined  the  Monroe 
Doctrine  as  not  giving  the  United  States  any  special  privi- 
leges on  the  American  continent,  but  meaning,  as  President 
Wilson  had  intimated,  that  every  people  should  be  left  free 
to  determine  its  own  policy,  there  could  have  been  no  objec- 
tion. But  this  was  not  done.  And  so  at  one  stroke  the  old 


THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE  AND  LATIN  AMERICA  179 

situation  was  continued  and  made  worse.  For  it  looked  as 
if  this  was  a move  to  have  the  whole  world  agree  to  leave 
with  the  United  States  the  determination  of  all  American 
questions.  And,  of  course,  if  the  Latin  American  nations 
signed  the  covenant,  they  themselves  became  guarantors  of 
an  arrangement  which  those  who  insisted  on  the  inclusion  of 
this  reservation  stated  to  mean  that  the  United  States  would 
have  the  right  to  interfere  in  the  national  life  of  the  other 
American  nations  whenever  it  deemed  such  a course  ex- 
pedient. 

Here  was  Latin  America’s  dilemma:  If  she  stayed  out  of 
the  League  she  lost  the  opportunity  of  being  linked  up  with 
the  only  organization  that  offered  to  help  the  small  nation. 
If  she  went  in  she  signed  a document  which  might  mean  her 
agreement  to  complete  domination  by  her  great  northern 
neighbor.  She  was  much  in  the  position  of  a man  who  is 
forced  to  borrow  a certain  sum  of  money  to  escape  ruin,  but 
who  is  asked  to  sign  a note  for  an  unknown  amount  in 
order  to  get  the  money.  It  leaves  him  in  doubt  as  to  whether 
he  is  to  be  ruined  now  or  later. 

FURTHER  DEFINITION  DESIRABLE 

This  was  what  led  little  El  Salvador  to  direct  a note  to  our 
Department  of  State  asking  for  a definition  of  the  Monroe 
Doctrine.  This  note,  in  the  first  place,  recites  that  despite  its 
neutrality  in  the  war,  El  Salvador  manifested  “its  sympathy 
on  every  occasion  for  the  ideals  which  animated  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  in  entering  the  war,”  praises 
President  Wilson  for  “having  crystallized  the  legitimate 
hopes  of  a fruitful  peace  by  submitting  the  draft  of  a 
League  of  Nations  covenant,”  says  El  Salvador,  “manifests 
the  desire  to  adhere  to  this  treaty  which  sanctions  arbitra- 
tion as  the  only  method  of  settling  disputes  between  nations,” 
and  continues : 

“The  whole  text  of  the  treaty  is  both  suggestive  and  at- 
tractive. In  it  there  is  a return  to  those  principles  of  life 
long  awaited  by  sociologists  and  publicists.  And  indeed  it 
seems  as  if  from  the  ruins  of  war  there  have  arisen  with 


180 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


greater  strength  and  potency  the  beautiful  gospels  which  in 
a moment  of  folly  were  relegated  to  the  discard  by  those  who 
through  the  immutable  laws  of  international  interdepen- 
dence were  especially  charged  with  sustaining  and  upholding 
them. 

“The  text  of  the  treaty  contains,  however,  one  article 
which  has  awakened  warm  discussions  throughout  the  whole 
American  continent  including  the  United  States,  due  no 
doubt  to  its  brevity  and  lack  of  clearness.  I refer  to  Article 
XXI,  drafted,  in  the  following  terms : ‘Nothing  in  this 
covenant  shall  be  deemed  to  affect  the  validity  of  interna- 
tional engagements,  such  as  treaties  of  arbitration  or  regional 
understandings  like  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  for  securing  the 
maintenance  of  peace.’ 

“The  legal  scope  of  this  provision  from  an  international 
viewpoint  is  open  to  differing  interpretations,  since  in  the 
vast  scheme  of  the  League  of  Nations  treaties  of  arbitration 
and  regional  understandings,  such  as  the  Monroe  Doctrine, 
are  recognized  and  sanctioned,  despite  the  fact  that  as  to  the 
highly  peaceful  purpose  of  the  latter  doctrine  there  does  not 
exist  harmonious  meeting  of  minds  nor  an  absolute  criterion. 

“From  the  year  1823,  in  which  the  distinguished  James 
Monroe  rejected  all  intervention  by  European  nations  in  the 
affairs  of  the  American  continent  to  the  present  day,  this 
doctrine  has  undergone  different  applications  depending  upon 
the  diverse  political  tendencies  prevailing  at  that  particular 
time  in  the  United  States. 

“It  would  be  unnecessary,  Mr.  Secretary,  to  undertake  any 
detailed  exposition  of  the  various  views  of  prominent  think- 
ers and  public  men  of  the  United  States  as  to  the  genuine 
and  correct  interpretation  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  which 
former  Secretary  of  State  Elihu  Root  regarded  as  ‘a  dec- 
laration based  on  the  right  of  the  people  of  the  United  States 
to  protect  itself  as  a nation,  and  which  could  not  be  trans- 
formed into  a declaration,  joint  or  common,  to  all  the 
nations  of  America  or  even  to  a limited  number  of  them.’ 

“My  Government  recognizes  that  the  Monroe  Doctrine 
consolidated  the  independence  of  the  Continental  States  of 
Latin  America,  and  saved  them  from  the  great  danger  of  a 
European  intervention.  It  realizes  that  it  is  a powerful  fac- 


THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE  AND  LATIN  AMERICA  181 


tor  in  the  existence  of  the  democratic  form  of  government 
on  this  continent  and  that  it  raises  a barrier  to  European 
colonization. 

“Since,  however,  the  covenant  of  the  League  of  Nations 
does  not  set  forth  nor  determine  the  purposes  nor  fix  a 
definite  criterion  of  international  relationship  in  America, 
and  since,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Doctrine  will  be  forthwith 
transformed — in  view  of  the  full  sanction  of  the  nations  of 
the  world — into  a principle  of  universal  public  law,  juris  et 
de  jure,  I request  that  your  Excellency  will  be  good  enough 
to  give  the  authentic  interpretation  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine 
as  it  is  understood  in  the  present  historical  moment  and  in 
its  future  application  by  the  Government  of  the  United 
States,  which  must  realize  that  my  Government  is  keenly 
desirous  of  securing  a statement  which  shall  put  an  end  to  the 
divergence  of  views  now  prevailing  on  the  subject,-  which 
it  is  recognized  by  all  is  not  the  most  propitious  in  stimulat- 
ing the  ideals  of  true  Pan  Americanism. 

“Contrary  to  the  authorized  and  respected  view  of  former 
Secretary  of  State  Root,  the  Monroe  Doctrine  through  its 
inclusion  in  the  covenant  of  the  League  of  Nations  will  be 
converted  without  doubt  into  a genesis  of  American  interna- 
tional law. 

“Since  any  amendment  to  the  text  of  the  treaty  and  even 
the  rejection  of  all  of  its  provisions  by  the  American  Senate 
would  still  leave  intact  the  various  points  which  this  inter- 
national agreement  covers  as  to  the  other  signatory  nations, 
by  virtue  of  their  general  and  expressed  acceptance,  the 
principle  embraced  in  the  League  of  Nations,  and  therefore 
the  Monroe  Doctrine,  would  be  virtually  accepted  as  a funda- 
mental principle  of  public  American  law  by  all  those  coun- 
tries that  signed  or  manifested  their  adherence  to  the  Peace 
T reaty . 

“The  necessity  of  an  interpretation  of  the  genesis  and 
scope  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  not  only  in  the  development 
of  the  lofty  purpose  of  Pan  Americanism,  but  in  order  that 
that  Doctrine  may  maintain  its  original  purity  and  prestige, 
is  rendered  all  the  more  urgent.” 

Even  before  El  Salvador  had  written  her  now  famous  note 


182 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


to  the  Department  of  State,  ex-President  Bonilla  of  Hon- 
duras, who  represented  his  country  at  the  Peace  Confer- 
ence, presented  to  that  body  the  following  communication : 

“In  this  covenant  all  peoples  represented  in  this  Confer- 
ence are  directly  interested;  the  smaller  nations,  like  that 
which  I represent,  more  if  possible  than  the  greater  ones. 
Its  bases,  as  expressed  by  the  Commission,  are  not  known ; 
but  the  public  press  has  asserted  that  amendments  have  been 
proposed : among  these  a proposal  by  the  delegation  of  North 
America  to  declare  that  ‘the  pact  shall  not  affect  the  validity 
of  other  international  conventions  such  as  the  arbitration 
treaties  or  regional  understandings,  like  the  Monroe  Doc- 
trine, to  assure  the  maintenance  of  peace.’ 

“The  Monroe  Doctrine  affects  the  Latin  American  repub- 
lics directly.  As  it  has  never  been  written  into  an  interna- 
tional document,  nor  been  expressly  accepted  by  the  nations 
of  the  Old  Continent,  nor  of  the  New  World;  and  as  it 
has  been  defined  and  applied  in  different  manners  by  presi- 
dents and  other  statesmen  of  the  United  States  of  America,  I 
believe  that  it  is  necessary  that  in  the  pact  about  to  be  sub- 
scribed it  should  be  defined  with  entire  clearness,  in  such 
way  that  it  may  be  incorporated  in  the  written  international 
law. 

“The  North  American  delegation  is  presided  over  by 
the  Honorable  Woodrow  Wilson,  and  it  is  certain  that  if  the 
Monroe  Doctrine  was  not  defined  the  delegation  had  in  mind 
the  definition  or  interpretation  that  Mr.  Wilson,  as  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  has  given  to  it  in  his  various 
addresses  from  that  which  he  voiced  at  Mobile  in  1913  to 
the  last  in  the  current  year.  In  these  he  declared  that  the 
Doctrine  is  not  a menace,  but  is  a guaranty  for  the  feeblest 
of  the  nations  of  America;  and  he  repudiated  expressly  the 
interpretations  that  had  been  made  to  signify  that  the  United 
States  had  a right  to  exercise  a kind  of  tutelage  over  the 
other  republics  of  America. 

“Especially  in  his  discourse  with  the  Mexican  journalists 
on  June  7,  1919,  he  declared  that  the  guaranty  that  this 
Doctrine  implied  in  favor  of  the  feeble  countries  is  not  with 
relation  to  the  powers  of  the  Old  World  only,  but  relates  to 


THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE  AND  LATIN  AMERICA  183 


the  United  States  also ; and  that  he  spoke  of  the  celebration 
of  a Pan  American  pact  that  might  be  realized  and  might 
include  this  point.  Such  declarations  have  made  President 
Wilson  the  best  of  the  exponents  of  the  ideals  of  the  peoples 
of  Latin  America. 

“All  these  facts  induce  me  to  present  the  accompanying 
proposition,  which  I hope  will  merit  a favorable  reception 
by  the  delegation  of  the  United  States,  and  will  be  sup- 
ported by  the  Latin  American  republics,  which  with  it  will 
pay  their  tribute  of  admiration  and  respect  to  the  First 
Magistrate  of  the  North  American  republic,  that  has  given 
such  proofs  of  its  love  of  justice. 

“If  the  American  amendment  to  which  I referred  is 
phrased  in  the  terms  published,  or  in  others  like  them,  the 
pact  of  the  League  of  Nations  will  be  no  obstacle  to  a union 
or  confederation  of  other  form,  by  the  peoples  of  Latin 
America,  that  will  tend  to  a realization  of  the  dream  of  the 
immortal  Bolivar.” 

The  clause  which  Dr.  Bonilla  offered  as  an  addition  to  the 
proposed  compact  of  the  League  of  Nations  may  be  trans- 
lated as  follows : 

“This  Doctrine,  that  the  United  States  of  America  have 
maintained  since  the  year  1823,  when  it  was  proclaimed  by 
President  Monroe,  signifies  that : All  the  republics  of  Amer- 
ica have  a right  to  independent  existence ; that  no  nation 
may  acquire  by  conquest  any  part  of  the  territory  of  any  of 
these  nations,  nor  interfere  with  its  internal  government 
or  administration,  nor  do  any  other  act  to  impair  its  auton- 
omy or  to  wound  its  national  dignity.  It  is  not  to  hinder 
the  ‘Latin’  American  countries  from  confederating  or  in 
other  forms  uniting  themselves,  seeking  the  best  way  to 
realize  their  destiny.” 

The  view  taken  generally  in  Latin  America  of  the  Salva- 
dorean note  is  well  illustrated  by  the  following  editorial  ut- 
terance of  El  Universal,  of  Mexico  City: 

“We  published  yesterday  the  Note  addressed  by  the  repub- 


184  PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 

lie  of  El  Salvador  to  the  Secretary  of  State  of  the  North 
American  Union  asking  for  an  exact  interpretation  of  the 
2 ist  article  of  the  protocol  of  the  League  of  Nations,  refer- 
ring to  the  recognition  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  by  the  Latin 
American  nations.  It  is  a document  of  far-reaching  im- 
portance. 

“On  the  appearance  in  1823  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  it 
had  the  character,  as  has  been  expressed  by  the  eminent 
Chilean  statesman,  Don  Alejandro  Alvarez,  of  a sort  of 
gospel  of  the  New  World.  President  Monroe,  according  to 
Alvarez,  though  taking  his  stand  exclusively  on  the  interests 
of  his  own  country,  in  his  famous  message  to  Congress,  sum- 
marized and  expressed  admirably  and  clearly  the  political 
situation  and  aspirations  of  the  whole  New  World.  Cir- 
cumstances then  obtaining  in  Europe  made  some  such  dec- 
laration urgent.  There  was  a controversy  on  between  Russia 
and  England  over  the  boundaries  of  their  possessions  in 
America ; and  besides — and  graver  still — the  countries  sig- 
natory to  the  Holy  Alliance  were  suspected  of  the  purpose 
of  coming  to  the  help  of  Spain  for  reconquering  her  lost 
American  colonies.  When,  therefore,  the  United  States 
proclaimed  its  affirmation  that  the  New  World  ought  to  be 
governed  by  republican  organizations,  and  that  all  the  coun- 
tries on  this  side  are  free  and  equal,  as  relates  to  Europe, 
the  independence  of  the  budding  republics  was  assured 
— an  attitude  on  the  part  of  the  Northern  Republic  which 
cannot  fail  to  meet  with  the  goodwill  of  the  other  coun- 
tries. 

“Up  to  that  point,  and  for  the  reasons  set  forth,  the  Mon- 
roe Doctrine  could  not  be  considered  a particular  expression 
of  the  sentiments  of  the  United  States ; it  was  rather  the 
crystallization  in  international  relations  of  the  aspirations  of 
all  America.  But  since  then,  as  the  various  countries  of  the 
continent  have  gone  forward  in  their  evolution,  the  Latin 
republics  have  not  always  moved  harmoniously  with  the 
United  States — nor  even  with  one  another.  Thus  it  has 
come  about  that  while  some  publicists  consider  the  Monroe 
Doctrine  as  a sort  of  tacit  agreement  among  all  the  Ameri- 
can nations  for  warding  off  the  occupation  of  territory  by 
Europe,  or  its  active  intervention  in  American  affairs,  there 


THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE  AND  LATIN  AMERICA  185 


are  others  who  have  come  to  believe  that  the  only  thing  the 
United  States  had  in  view  in  promulgating  the  Doctrine  was 
to  substitute  their  own  intervention  for  that  of  Europe  in 
the  affairs  of  the  other  nations  of  this  continent,  and,  in 
that  connection,  it  has  not  yet  been  settled  whether  acts  of 
imperialism,  deliberately  engaged  in  by  the  United  States 
against  the  sovereignty  of  Latin  American  republics,  are  or 
are  not  subject  to  regulation  by  the  Monroe  Doctrine. 

“It  is  a state  of  things  which  has  resulted  in  many  mis- 
understandings. We  do  not  know,  really,  what  to  think; 
as,  in  view  of  diverse  and  even  contrary  interpretations  by 
different  statesmen,  the  Monroe  Doctrine  or  ‘Monroeism’ 
has  become  something  extremely  foggy  and  obscure.  It  is 
to  this  fact  that  is  due  the  lack  of  confidence  in  it  on  the 
part  of  the  Latin  republics ; to  this,  and  to  nothing  else, 
was  due  the  statement  on  the  part  of  our  Government 
recently  that  it  did  not  recognize  that  Doctrine. 

“President  Wilson  himself  seemed  to  justify  that  want  of 
confidence  when  he  suggested  in  his  address  to  the  Mexican 
editors  in  June,  1919,  that  all  the  Latin  American  countries 
should  undertake  a revision  of  that  Doctrine  and  should 
come  to  an  agreement  that  would  put  the  question  of  their 
independence  outside  the  danger  of  any  imperialistic  en- 
croachment. If  thus  the  very  author  of  the  League  of  Na- 
tions admitted  less  than  a year  before  that  it  was  only 
natural  that  the  Monroe  Doctrine  should  inspire  in  Latin 
America  some  want  of  confidence  as  not  being  a real  com- 
munity pact,  how  can  those  nations  which  have  not  yet 
been  called  into  the  consultation  adhere  to  the  League  of 
Nations,  in  which  the  Monroe  Doctrine  is  explicitly  recog- 
nized? 

“As  we  see  the  matter,  El  Salvador  has  put  a finger  on 
the  sore  spot,  as  the  saying  goes,  in  this  most  complicated 
matter  of  American  politics.  Will  its  note  bring  about  a 
general  revision,  a Pan  American  revision  such  as  Wilson 
intimated,  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine?  Unless  some  such  thing 
happens,  we  do  not  see  how  the  Latin  American  nations  can 
sign  a compact,  such  as  that  of  the  League  of  Nations, 
unless  some  lieht  can  be  thrown  on  a matter  that  so  pro- 
foundly concerns  their  interests.” 


186 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


The  framing  of  a reply  to  El  Salvador  taxed  the  ingenuity 
of  our  Department  of  State.  But  a way  out  was  happily 
found  by  a simple  citation  of  the  address  of  President  Wil- 
son before  the  Second  Pan  American  Scientific  Congress, 
where  the  President  had  discussed  the  Monroe  Doctrine  as 
follows : 

“The  Monroe  Doctrine  was  proclaimed  by  the  United 
States  on  her  own  authority.  It  has  always  been  main- 
tained, and  always  will  be  maintained,  upon  her  own  respon- 
sibility. But  the  Monroe  Doctrine  demanded  merely  that 
European  governments  should  not  attempt  to  extend  their 
political  systems  to  this  side  of  the  Atlantic.  It  did  not  dis- 
close the  use  which  the  United  States  intended  to  make  of 
her  power  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic.  It  was  a hand  held 
up  in  warning,  but  there  was  no  promise  in  it  of  what 
America  was  going  to  do  with  the  implied  and  partial  pro- 
tectorate which  she  apparently  was  trying  to  set  up  on  this 
side  of  the  water,  and  I believe  you  will  sustain  me  in  the 
statement  that  it  has  been  fears  and  suspicions  on  this  score 
which  have  hitherto  prevented  the  greater  intimacy  and  con- 
fidence and  trust  between  the  Americas.  The  states  of 
America  have  not  been  certain  what  the  United  States  would 
do  with  her  power.  That  doubt  must  be  removed.  And 
latterly  there  has  been  a very  frank  interchange  of  views 
between  the  authorities  in  W ashington  and  those  who  repre- 
sented the  other  states  of  this  hemisphere,  an  interchange  of 
views  charming  and  hopeful,  because  based  upon  an  increas- 
ingly sure  appreciation  of  the  spirit  in  which  they  were 
undertaken.  These  gentlemen  have  seen  that,  if  America  is 
to  come  into  her  own,  into  her  legitimate  own,  in  a world 
of  peace  and  order,  she  must  establish  the  foundations  of 
amity,  so  that  no  one  will  hereafter  doubt  them. 

“I  hope  and  believe  that  this  can  be  accomplished.  These 
conferences  have  enabled  me  to  foresee  how  it  will  be  ac- 
complished. It  will  be  accomplished,  in  the  first  place,  by  the 
states  of  America  uniting  in  guaranteeing  to  each  other  abso- 
lute political  independence  and  territorial  integrity.  In  the 
second  place,  and  as  a necessary  corollary  to  that,  guarantee- 
ing the  agreement  to  settle  all  pending  boundary  disputes  as 


THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE  AND  LATIN  AMERICA  187 


soon  as  possible  and  by  amicable  process;  by  agreeing  that 
all  disputes  among  themselves,  should  they  unhappily  arise, 
will  be  handled  by  patient,  impartial  investigation  and  set- 
tled by  arbitration ; and  the  agreement  necessary  to  the  peace 
of  the  Americas,  that  no  state  of  either  continent  will  permit 
revolutionary  expeditions  against  another  state  to  be  fitted 
out  on  its  territory,  and  that  they  will  prohibit  the  exporta- 
tions of  munitions  of  war  for  the  purpose  of  supplying 
revolutionists  against  neighboring  governments.” 

This  reply  was  received  by  El  Salvador  with  diplomatic 
expressions  of  appreciation,  but  her  leaders,  as  well  as  those 
of  other  Latin  American  countries,  recognize  that  the  senti- 
ments expressed  by  one  of  our  presidents  before  a scientific 
gathering  cannot  be  considered  as  an  authoritative  and  bind- 
ing definition  of  any  fundamental  policy  like  the  Monroe 
Doctrine.  They  want  rather  a declaration  in  which  the 
executive  and  legislative  branches  of  the  Government,  after 
a discussion  which  allowed  public  opinion  to  express  itself, 
would  officially  state  the  position  of  the  nation. 

The  following  words  of  Senor  A.  de  Manos-Albas,  writ- 
ten a few  years  ago  in  the  English  Review  of  Reviews,  still 
remain  true: 

“The  means  to  accomplish  unity  of  sentiment  and  to  dis- 
pel the  misgivings  between  the  United  States  and  Latin 
America  is  not  far  to  seek.  It  is  only  required  to  amplify 
the  Monroe  Doctrine  to  the  full  extent  of  its  logical  develop- 
ment. * * * If  the  United  States  should  declare  that  the  era 
of  conquest  on  the  American  continent  has  been  closed  to  all 
and  forever,  beginning  with  themselves,  the  brooding  storm 
of  distrust  will  disappear  from  the  Latin  American  mind, 
and  an  international  cordiality  of  incalculable  possibilities 
will  ensue,  not  only  for  the  welfare  of  the  American  nations, 
but  universally  for  the  cause  of  freedom  and  democracy.” 

At  this  writing  the  United  States  is  in  a most  peculiar 
position.  Having  insisted  upon  inserting  the  Monroe  Doc- 
trine clause  into  the  Covenant,  a clause  in  which  no  other 
nation  in  the  world  was  interested  and  to  which  many  were 


188 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


opposed,  the  United  States  finds  itself  the  only  nation  of 
consequence  out  of  the  League.  The  Latin  American  coun- 
tries were  so  enthusiastic  for  the  League  idea  that  fourteen 
out  of  twenty  of  them  signed,  with  the  Monroe  Doctrine 
clause  and  all,  almost  without  debate.  The  LTnited  States 
was  expected  to  join  as  well.  Most  of  these  countries  fol- 
lowed the  United  States  into  the  war  and  they  all  thought 
they  were  going  with  her  into  the  League.  Now  they  are 
awakening  to  the  fact  that  their  supposed  leader  is  not  with 
them,  and  the  situation  is  a bit  disconcerting  to  some  of 
them. 

The  situation  reminds  one  of  an  incident  in  the  French 
Revolution  when  a group  of  politicians  sat  discussing  mat- 
ters of  state  when  a great  mob  rushed  by  the  building.  One 
of  the  group  jumped  to  his  feet,  ran  to  the  door  and  ex- 
claimed, “There  go  my  people.  I must  hurry  and  follow 
them,  for  I am  their  leader !” 

The  complaisant  North  American  may  smile  at  the  men- 
tion of  the  possibility  of  our  losing  our  position  of  domi- 
nance on  this  continent,  but  the  present  situation  at  least 
suggests  the  development  of  a condition  which  will  unite  the 
rest  of  America  with  Europe  rather  than  with  us.  It  is  easy 
to  note  that  among  Latin  Americans  there  is  great  confusion 
over  the  situation,  and  some  frankly  say  that  the  present 
division  may  mean  a final  separation  of  the  Latin  American 
countries  from  North  America.  Commenting  on  the  presi- 
dential election  in  the  United  States,  La  Nation,  of  Buenos 
Aires,  a paper  which  all  during  the  war  ardently  supported 
the  United  States,  said: 

“Confronted  with  the  dilemma  of  abandoning  either  the 
League  of  Nations  or  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  the  Latin  Amer- 
ican countries  probably  would  choose  to  abandon  the  latter. 
Many  people  in  the  United  States  have  believed  that  the 
various  South  American  countries,  members  of  the  League, 
would  withdraw  in  order  to  follow  the  policy  inspired  by 
the  United  States,  and  contrary,  naturally,  to  the 
League.  * * * 

“The  declaration  on  the  Monroe  Doctrine  Senator  Hard- 
ing made  to  the  correspondent  of  La  Nation  hardly  seems  an 


THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE  AND  LATIN  AMERICA  189 

adequate  cause  for  the  South  American  members  of  the 
League  to  abandon  it.  In  effect  Senator  Harding  told  our 
correspondent  that  the  Monroe  Doctrine  was  not  an  inter- 
national pact  or  agreement  but  a declaration  of  policy  by 
the  United  States  which  promised  protection  against  abuses 
or  aggressions  by  European  nations,  precisely  an  interpreta- 
tion which  causes  the  greatest  resistance  from  most,  if  not 
all,  of  these  countries,  and  which  is  contrary  to  the  interpre- 
tation President  Wilson  has  given,  according  to  which  the 
Doctrine  established  among  the  American  nations  a most 
perfect  equality — an  equality  that  cannot  exist  if  the  question 
of  protection  that  is  not  asked  is  the  product  entirely  of  the 
one-sided  resolution  of  a power  declaring  itself  the  protector 
against  dangers  in  which  no  one  believes.” 

If  the  United  States  does  not  form  part  of  the  League, 
these  southern  countries  will  find  themselves  in  a different 
camp  from  the  United  States,  having  acquired  a special 
status  in  relation  to  other  members  of  the  League,  and  will 
be  forced  to  consider  the  L’nited  States  as  a factor  to  some 
extent  foreign  to  the  development  of  their  peaceful  policy. 
This  surely  will  not  be  satisfactory  either  to  them  or  to  us, 
in  view  of  the  sincere  desire  of  both  parties  that  an  accord 
shall  exist  between  the  two  sections  of  the  continent. 

This  reported  interview  with  President  Harding  raises 
an  important  question  concerning  the  Monroe  Doctrine 
about  which  there  is  absolute  difference  of  opinion.  The 
President  is  reported  as  intimating  that  the  Doctrine  is  not 
to  be  considered  as  an  international  agreement,  but  solely 
as  a declaration  of  the  United  States,  maintained  by  the 
power  of  the  United  States.  Secretary  Root,  already  quoted, 
also  said  that  it  could  under  no  circumstances  become  a joint 
agreement. 

But  President  Roosevelt  said,  in  an  address  at  Rio  de 
Janeiro : 

“All  the  nations  which  are  sufficiently  advanced,  such  as 
Brazil  and  the  United  States,  should  participate  on  an  abso- 
lute equality  in  the  responsibilities  and  development  of  this 
doctrine  so  far  as  the  interests  of  the  western  hemisphere 


190 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


as  a whole  are  concerned.  It  must  be  made  a continental 
and  not  a unilateral  doctrine.  * * * If  ever,  as  regards  any 
country,  intervention  does  unfortunately  become  necessary, 
I hope  that  wherever  possible  it  will  be  a joint  intervention 
by  such  powers  as  Brazil  and  the  United  States,  without  the 
thought  of  self-aggrandizement  by  any  of  them,  and  for  the 
common  good  of  the  western  world.” 

As  has  already  been  shown,  President  Wilson  accepted  the 
same  idea  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  being  extendable  not  only 
to  all  America  but  to  the  whole  world.  In  this  same  spirit 
were  his  words  in  addressing  Congress  December  7,  1915, 
when  he  said: 

“There  was  a time  in  the  early  days  of  our  great  nation 
and  of  the  republics  fighting  their  way  to  independence  in 
Central  and  South  America,  when  the  government  of  the 
United  States  looked  upon  itself  as  in  some  sort  the  guar- 
dian of  the  republics  to  the  south  of  her  as  against  any  en- 
croachments or  efforts  at  political  control  from  the  other 
side  of  the  water;  felt  it  its  duty  to  play  the  part  even  with- 
out invitation  from  them;  and  I think  that  we  can  claim 
that  the  task  was  undertaken  with  a true  and  disinterested 
enthusiasm  for  the  freedom  of  the  Americas  and  the  unmo- 
lested self-government  of  her  independent  peoples.  But  it 
was  always  difficult  to  maintain  such  a role  without  offense 
to  the  pride  of  the  peoples  whose  freedom  of  action  we 
sought  to  protect,  and  without  provoking  serious  miscon- 
ceptions of  our  motives,  and  every  thoughtful  man  of  affairs 
must  welcome  the  altered  circumstances  of  the  new  day  in 
whose  light  we  now  stand,  when  there  is  no  claim  of  guar- 
dianship or  thought  of  wards  but,  instead,  a full  and 
honorable  association  as  of  partners  between  ourselves  and 
our  neighbors,  in  the  interest  of  all  America,  north  and 
south.” 

It  is  this  spirit  faithfully  carried  out  that  will  make  all 
Latin  America  join  with  us  in  the  support  of  the  Monroe 
Doctrine  and  be  at  one  with  us  in  building  a continental 


THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE  AND  LATIN  AMERICA  191 


solidarity.  The  following  comment  by  La  Prensa,  of  Bue- 
nos Aires,  on  this  message  is  expressive  of  the  way  all 
Hispanic  America  responds  to  such  sentiment : 

“There  has  been  a gradual  and  continuous  change  in  the 
American  policy  toward  the  republics  of  this  continent. 
These  changes  have  been  coincident  with  the  visits  of  promi- 
nent Americans  to  South  America,  with  the  result  that 
a better  knowledge  of  the  state  of  civilization  which  has 
been  reached  by  South  Americans  has  become  more  general. 
This  has  been  the  principal  cause  of  the  gradual  transforma- 
tion. The  Monroe  Doctrine  is  now  essentially  modified. 
It  is  necessary  that  it  should  no  longer  have  the  character  of 
tutelage  that  it  had  at  the  time  of  its  origin,  but  it  must 
undergo  an  evolution  toward  Pan  Americanism. 

“No  higher,  more  fundamental,  more  authoritative  utter- 
ance has  been  made  on  the  subject  than  that  embodied  in 
President  Wilson’s  message.  President  Wilson  made  his 
statement  without  reserve  and  with  sincerity,  showing  that 
it  was  the  result  of  serene  reflection.  According  to  Presi- 
dent Wilson,  Monroeism  will  be  a means  of  defense  of  this 
continent,  but  all  the  American  states  will  be  members  of 
the  international  community,  the  United  States  having  the 
same  sovereign  rank  as  the  others. 

“President  Wilson’s  message  will  be  as  transcendent  as 
was  President  Monroe’s,  both  being  in  accord  with  regard 
to  solidarity,  but  differing  in  regard  to  the  conception  of 
circumstances.  President  Wilson’s  program  does  not  lack 
anything  necessary  to  the  high  development  of  ideals.” 

Let  all  America  then  unite  in  supporting  the  Monroe  Doc- 
trine, and  when  all  have  gone  into  a World  League  of  Na- 
tions, let  a subdivision  of  that  League  act  as  the  American 
League,  suggested  by  Bolivar  in  1826  and  by  Wilson  and 
Brum  in  1917,  to  promote  peace  and  mutual  prosperity 
among  all  American  nations. 

Dr.  Baltasar  Brum,  President  of  Uruguay,  in  an  address 
before  the  university  students  of  the  capital  of  his  country, 
advocated  this  League  of  American  Nations  in  the  following 
important  declarations: 


192 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


“Owing  to  the  state  in  which  European  countries  remain 
after  the  struggle,  it  may  be  said  that  fear  of  invasion  by 
them  in  America  has  been  removed  for  many  years.  But 
is  that  sufficient  reason  for  us  to  take  no  interest  in  the  future 
and  turn  away  from  the  Monroe  Doctrine  with  the  pretext 
that  it  is  now  unnecessary  ? I believe  that  today,  more  than 
ever,  we  should  use  foresight  in  searching  for  formulas  that 
may  assure  forever  the  peace  and  full  independence  of 
American  countries. 

“The  principle  of  American  solidarity,  based  on  the 
constitution  of  a continental  league,  is  more  ample  than  the 
Monroe  Doctrine,  because  it  will  not  only  defend  the  coun- 
tries of  America  against  foreign  invaders  but  also  against 
imperialistic  tendencies  which  might  arise  among  them- 
selves. 

“The  formation  of  this  League,  in  my  opinion,  would  be 
a logical  consequence  of  the  Treaty  of  Versailles,  which,  in 
recognizing  and  expressly  accepting  the  Monroe  Doctrine, 
seems  to  be  desirous  of  limiting  its  field  of  action,  so  far  as 
American  affairs  are  concerned.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Supreme  Council  of  the  League  of  Nations  is  composed 
principally  of  the  delegates  of  the  Great  Powers,  nearly  all 
the  American  countries  having  been  excluded.  These  coun- 
tries need,  therefore,  to  create  a powerful  organization  to 
look  after  their  interests  in  the  decisions  arrived  at  by  the 
League  of  Nations.  Harmonious  and  joint  action  by  the 
‘American  League’  would  avoid  European  intervention  in 
our  affairs.” 

Some  have  objected  to  this  League  of  American  Nations 
because  they  fear  it  would  become  a rival  to  the  World 
League.  But  there  seems  to  be  no  reason  why  such  a League 
would  not  really  strengthen  the  World  League  by  assuring 
its  unanimous  support  by  all  American  nations.  These  na- 
tions would  naturally  discuss  beforehand  the  questions  to 
come  before  the  League  and  decide  upon  the  attitude  of  all 
the  American  nations.  Indeed  it  could  easily  and  profitably 
develop  into  a kind  of  sub-committee  of  the  committee  of  the 
whole,  to  consider  purely  American  matters.  By  such  a 
relationship  the  American  nations  could  settle  their  own 


THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE  AND  LATIN  AMERICA  193 


questions,  but  with  the  double  advantage  that  these  smaller 
nations  would  have  some  final  appeal  in  case  of  absolute 
injustice  by  the  one  American  power  that  is  easily  able  to 
impose  its  will  on  all  the  rest  of  the  continent ; also  the  trans- 
Atlantic  nations  would  be  enabled  to  have  direct  touch  with 
the  American  nations  in  working  toward  the  peace  and 
prosperity  of  the  world  at  large. 

We  are  today  in  the  midst  of  one  of  those  great  world 
epochs  when  all  relations  with  and  inheritances  from  the 
past  are  in  flux.  The  best  of  the  past  must  be  readjusted, 
reformed,  redefined  to  contribute  to  the  future — the  new 
day,  which,  whether  we  like  it  or  not,  is  different  from  the 
old. 

The  Monroe  Doctrine  has  been  the  greatest  influence  on 
the  American  continent  for  preserving  the  republican  form 
of  government.  It  is  today  neither  an  “obsolete  shibboleth” 
nor  an  “international  impertinence,”  if  understood  in  the 
original  and  true  sense.  There  is  no  question  that  the  Doc- 
trine has  been  made  to  cover  a multitude  of  sins,  political 
and  commercial,  and  is  abused  by  North  American  jingoes. 
The  wrong  appeal  to  and  interpretation  of  the  Doctrine  has 
developed  among  the  Hispanic  American  peoples  a prejudice 
against  it,  and  among  the  statesmen  of  the  South  an  in- 
sistent demand  for  a definition  of  its  present  application. 
If  we  can  be  big  enough  to  put  ourselves  in  the  place  of  our 
southern  neighbors  we  must  acknowledge  that  they  have  a 
right  to  a clear  understanding  of  how  far  the  Doctrine 
means  “America  for  the  Americans”  and  how  far  it  means 
“America  for  the  North  Americans.”  If  we  are  to  retain 
our  leadership  in  America  and  in  the  world  in  this  new  age 
when  the  rights  of  the  small  nation  and  the  common  man 
are  the  concern  of  all,  and  when  a righteous  peace  in  the 
world  is  tne  pearl  of  great  price  for  which  all  else  may  be 
sacrificed,  we  will  turn  toward  world  friendship  rather  than 
shrivel  into  a Prussian  nationalism. 

And  if  we  are  honest,  as  we  believe  we  are,  in  our  con- 
tention that,  as  Secretary  Root  said,  “We  wish  for  no  vic- 
tories but  those  of  peace,  for  no  territory  except  our  own,” 
and  as  Roosevelt  said,  “This  Doctrine  has  nothing  to  do 
with  the  commercial  relations  of  any  American  powers  save 


194 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


that  it  in  truth  allows  each  of  them  to  form  such  as  it  de- 
sires,” and,  as  President  Wilson  said,  “Let  us  have  a com- 
mon guarantee  that  all  of  us  will  sign,  an  agreement  of 
political  independence  and  territorial  integrity,” — if  we 
really  mean  these  things,  let  us  make  them  so  clear  and  so 
authoritative  that  our  worst  enemies  cannot  but  admit  that 
our  relations  with  Latin  America  are  guided,  as  John  Hay 
said  they  were  with  China,  by  the  open  door  and  the  Golden 
Rule,  and  that  the  Monroe  Doctrine  is  the  simple  expression 
of  our  commitment  to  the  principles  of  American  democracy, 
developed  without  outside  interference,  and  of  our  willing- 
ness to  give  the  last  drop  of  our  blood  for  its  defense. 

Sources  of  Further  Information  on  the  Monroe  Doctrine 
and  Latin  America 

Articles  on  Present  Status  of  Monroe  Doctrine,  Annals  of  Ameri- 
can Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Sciences,  1914. 

Atlantic  Monthly:  Discussion  between  Hiram  Bingham  and  F. 

Garcia  Calderon,  1914. 

Bigelow:  The  American  Policy. 

Brum,  Baltasar  : Solidaridad  Americana. 

Calderon,  F.  Garcia  : Latin  America,  Its  Rise  and  Progress. 
Hart,  Albert  Bushnell:  Monroe  Doctrine,  An  Interpretation. 
Leuchsenring,  Emelio  Roig  de:  La  Doctrina  de  Monroe  y el 
Pacto  de  la  Liga  de  las  Naciones,  Cuba  Contemporanea,  1920. 
Lobo,  Helio:  Causas  Diplomaticas. 

Moore,  J.  B.:  American  Diplomacy,  Chapter  VI. 

Pereyra,  Carlos:  El  Mito  de  Monroe. 

Powers,  H.  H. : America  Among  the  Nations. 

Proceedings  of  the  American  Society  of  International  Law,  1914. 
Quesada,  Ernesto  : La  Doctrina  Monroe,  Su  Evolucion  Historica. 
Richardson,  James  Daniel:  A Compilation  of  the  Messages 
and  Papers  of  the  Presidents. 

Shepherd,  William  R. : New  Light  on  the  Monroe  Doctrine, 

Political  Science  Quarterly,  1916. 

Sherrill,  C.  H. : Modernizing  the  Monroe  Doctrine. 

Wilson,  George  Grafton:  The  Monroe  Doctrine  After  the  War. 
Zeballos,  E.  S. : La  Republica  Argentina  en  la  Liga  de  Naciones 
(Reprint  of  Editorials  in  La  Prensa ). 


Chapter  VI 

PAN  AMERICAN  CONFERENCES 


The  movement  for  American  unity  may  be  divided  into 
two  periods.  The  first  period  embraces  the  first  two-thirds 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  during  which  the  movement  was 
led  by  Hispanic  America,  especially  by  Colombia  and  Peru, 
fostered  also  by  Mexico,  Central  America  and  Venezuela. 
The  idea  generally  revolved  around  a plan  for  a congress, 
with  more  or  less  power,  which  should  meet  at  regular 
periods.  The  emphasis  was  placed  on  unity  among  the 
Spanish-American  countries,  the  United  States  and  Brazil 
sometimes  being  included  and  sometimes  left  out. 

We  have  considered  the  first  of  these  periods  and  noted 
that  “the  spirit  was  willing” — nay,  anxious — “but  the  flesh 
was  weak.”  The  failure  of  the  second  Panama  Congress 
called  by  Colombia  in  1881  seemed  to  finally  convince  even 
the  most  utopian  of  the  Spanish-Americans  that  they  had 
too  many  problems  in  their  own  separate  countries  to  actu- 
ally get  together.  They  were  ready  therefore  to  try  some 
other  way.  Everything  pointed  to  the  new  way  consisting 
in  new  leadership  and  in  working  toward  a less  rigid  unity 
with  a freer  course  for  each  separate  country.  So  the  second 
period  set  in  under  the  leadership  of  the  United  States  and 
the  loosely  organized  Pan  American  Congresses,  the  first  of 
which  met  in  Washington  in  1889  and  the  last  one  in  Buenos 
Aires  in  1910. 

The  Civil  War  in  the  United  States  brought  about  in  this 
country  a decided  change  toward  Hispanic  America.  The 
bravado  of  Manifest  Destiny  and  the  depreciation  of  the 
southern  republics  because  of  their  frequent  internal  troubles 
was  greatly  reduced  by  our  own  sad  experience  which  almost 
disrupted  our  nation  and  left  us  considerably  humbled.  Lin- 
coln, in  direct  contrast  to  the  bluster  of  Polk  and  Pierce, 

195 


196  PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 

sent  a minister  to  the  Mexican  government  with  instructions 
to  show  an  attitude  of  cordiality,  frankness,  friendship  and 
even  magnanimity.  Napoleon  was  informed  that  he  must 
get  his  troops  out  of  Mexico,  and  Juarez  was  thus  enabled 
to  win  his  fight  against  a foreign  invader,  who  had  all  but 
destroyed  Mexican  sovereignty.  As  the  United  States  re- 
covered a bit  more  from  her  awful  struggle  and  lifted  her 
eyes  a little  beyond  Mexico,  she  found  a bad  situation  in 
South  America,  which  offered  another  opportunity  to  show 
this  new  sympathy.  For  five  years  a state  of  war  had 
existed  between  Spain  on  the  one  hand  and  Chile,  Peru, 
Ecuador  and  Bolivia  on  the  other.  While  the  exhausted  state 
of  the  United  States  Government  did  not  seem  to  make  it 
wise  to  invoke  the  Monroe  Doctrine  and  make  peremptory 
demands  on  Spain,  Secretary  of  State  Hamilton  Fish  did 
bring  about  a conference  at  Washington  in  1870,  at  which 
a “perpetual  armistice”  was  signed. 

THE  FIRST  PAN  AMERICAN  CONFERENCE 

The  attention  of  the  United  States  was  again  turned  to 
South  America  by  the  War  of  the  Pacific,  with  Chile  on  one 
side  and  Peru  and  Bolivia  on  the  other,  which  continued 
from  1879  to  1881.  In  the  latter  year  James  G.  Blaine 
became  Secretary  of  State.  He  held  to  the  same  ideas  of 
American  Unity  advocated  by  his  distinguished  predecessor, 
Henry  Clay.  Such  a statesman  had  no  trouble  in  realizing 
that  the  time  had  arrived  for  the  United  States  to  take  the 
lead  in  the  movement  for  continental  solidarity.  On  No- 
vember 29,  1881,  the  Secretary  of  State  issued  in  the  name 
of  the  President  an  invitation  to  all  the  American  inde- 
pendent nations  to  take  part  in  a conference  “for  the  pur- 
pose of  considering  and  discussing  the  methods  of  preventing 
war  between  the  nations  of  America.” 

Because  of  the  continuance  of  the  War  of  the  Pacific,  it 
was  not  possible  for  the  Congress  to  be  held  at  the  date  set. 
But  the  idea  persisted.  In  1888,  largely  through  the  efforts 
of  James  G.  Blaine,  who  had  again  become  Secretary  of 
State,  the  first  Pan  American  Conference  was  called  under 
Act  of  Congress  (May  24,  1888),  to  meet  in  Washington. 


PAN  AMERICAN  CONFERENCES 


197 


The  first  session  was  held  on  October  2,  1889.  All  the  inde- 
pendent American  states  were  represented.  The  conference 
continued  until  April  19,  1890. 

The  commercial  aspect  of  Pan  American  relations  had 
been  first  discussed  in  the  United  States  Congress  in  1884, 
when  an  act  was  passed  creating  a commission  of  three  to 
make  a careful  study  of  commercial  relations  between  the 
different  American  republics;  and  Secretary  Frelinghuysen 
advocated  a policy  of  reciprocity  treaties  with  the  Latin 
American  countries.  Added  to  the  commercial  motives  were 
those  of  a desire  for  peace  among  the  American  countries, 
as  already  pointed  out.  The  following  words,  appearing  in 
Secretary  Blaine’s  call,  show  his  carefulness  not  to  offend 
any  or  to  assume  any  attitude  of  superiority : 

“The  delegates  will  be  able  to  show  to  the  world  an  hon- 
orable, pacific  Conference  of  eighteen  independent  American 
states  where  all  are  united  in  terms  of  absolute  equality;  a 
Conference  in  which  there  will  be  no  effort  to  coerce  any 
delegate  against  his  own  conception  of  the  interests  of  his 
nation;  a Conference  that  will  not  permit  secret  machina- 
tions concerning  any  question,  but  will  frankly  give  to  the 
world  all  its  conclusions ; a Conference  that  will  not  tolerate 
any  spirit  of  conquest,  but  that  will  cultivate  an  American 
sympathy  as  vast  as  the  continent;  a Conference  that  will 
not  form  selfish  alliances  against  the  old  nations  of  which 
we  are  proud  to  call  ourselves  descendants;  a Conference, 
finally,  that  will  not  look  for  anything,  nor  tolerate  anything 
that  is  not  according  to  the  general  sentiment  of  the  dele- 
gates, opportune,  prudent  and  pacific.” 

That  Secretary  Blaine  had  not  misjudged  the  opportune- 
ness of  the  United  States  taking  the  lead  in  the  movement 
of  American  Congresses  is  indicated  by  the  replies  received 
from  the  invitation  for  a Pan  American  Congress  to  meet 
in  Washington.  Several  of  the  South  American  states  ex- 
pressed very  deep  appreciation  of  this  step  taken  by  the 
United  States  to  bring  America  closer  together. 

Venezuela  replied : “The  future  of  South  America  may  be 
considered  as  secure  under  the  guardianship  of  the  great 


198 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


republic  which  is  both  our  teacher  and  our  model.”  Guate- 
mala adhered  to  the  probability  that  “under  the  auspices  and 
by  the  initiative  of  such  a powerful  and  marvelous  nation 
peace  would  be  realized  practically  among  the  peoples  of  this 
beautiful  continent.”  Salvador  accepted  with  enthusiasm 
“the  generous  proposals  of  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  congratulating  it  on  becoming  the  common  guide  in 
this  work  of  civilization  and  peace,  being  destined  to  exalt 
the  good  name  and  secure  the  progress  of  these  republics.” 
Nicaragua  approved  the  “philanthropic  proposal  that  your 
Government  has  in  view.”  Honduras  accepted  the  idea  of  a 
peace  congress  which  “for  the  good  of  Latin  America  and 
the  United  States  would  solve  questions  of  the  greatest  inter- 
est for  the  future  of  the  American  nations.” 

The  resolutions  and  recommendations  of  the  conference 
were  very  general  since  the  territory  was  too  new,  the  prin- 
ciple of  cooperation  untried  and  the  questions  too  compli- 
cated to  allow  them  to  undertake  the  elaboration  of  definite 
projects  for  treaties  or  laws  with  any  assurance  as  to  their 
results.  Also  the  mutual  relations  of  the  powers  involved 
were  not  sufficiently  well  defined  to  allow  for  more  definite 
treatment  of  the  subjects  under  discussion. 

The  matter  of  compulsory  arbitration,  which  was  to  be- 
come the  “eternal  question”  of  these  conferences,  as  it  had 
been  before  in  the  first  series,  was  discussed  and  a majority 
of  the  members  of  the  Congress  voted  for  its  recommenda- 
tion. The  delegates  from  Mexico  and  Chile,  however,  were 
opposed  to  this  convention.  Recommendations  were  also 
made  relating  to  reciprocity  treaties,  postal  communications, 
customs  regulations,  port  duties,  the  free  navigation  of 
American  rivers,  sanitary  regulations,  a monetary  union, 
weights  and  measures,  patents  and  trademarks,  an  interna- 
tional American  bank,  an  intercontinental  railway,  the  ex- 
tradition of  criminals,  and  several  other  matters. 

No  definite  results  were  achieved,  however,  except  the 
establishment  of  an  International  Bureau  of  American  Re- 
publics in  Washington,  for  the  collection  and  publication  of 
information  relating  to  the  commerce,  products,  laws  and 
customs  of  the  countries  represented.  It  was  decided  that 
it  should  operate  under  the  supervision  of  the  Secretary  of 


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199 


State  of  the  United  States.  It  was  established  in  1890  with 
an  annual  budget  of  $36,000  to  be  furnished  by  the  different 
countries  in  proportion  to  their  populations.  This  was  the 
beginning  of  that  most  useful  institution  that  is  now  known 
as  the  Pan  American  Union. 

Secretary  Blaine,  in  summing  up  the  work  of  the  Con- 
gress, said: 

“If  this  Congress  had  only  one  of  its  acts  to  be  proud  of, 
we  should  call  the  world’s  attention  to  the  reasoned,  confid- 
ing and  solemn  consecration  by  the  two  vast  continents  of 
the  maintenance  of  peace  and  prosperity,  the  offspring  of 
peace.  We  look  upon  this  new  Magna  Charta  which  sup- 
presses war  and  substitutes  arbitration  among  American 
governments  in  its  place,  as  the  first  result  and  most  impor- 
tant one  of  the  International  American  Congress.” 

This  conference  differed  from  most  others  in  that  it  was 
not  convened  for  the  settlement  of  a specific  diplomatic 
problem  nor  did  it  confine  itself  to  the  discussion  of  any 
definite  interest.  It  had  the  character  of  a general  advisory 
meeting  of  the  representatives  of  neighboring  countries  sum- 
moned for  the  purpose  of  bringing  these  countries  into 
closer  touch  with  one  another  and  of  arriving  at  a better 
mutual  understanding.  Definite  results  could  not  be  hoped 
for,  but  the  discussion  it  was  felt  would  be  beneficial  to  all 
the  nations  concerned. 

THE  SECOND  PAN  AMERICAN  CONGRESS 

President  McKinley  was  favorable  to  the  Pan  American 
movement  but  shortly  after  his  accession  to  the  presidency 
the  United  States  became  involved  in  a war  with  Spain, 
during  and  after  which  it  was  doubtful  as  to  what  influence 
might  be  exerted  by  it  on  the  relations  between  the  United 
States  and  Spanish  America.  But  in  his  message  of  Dec.  5, 
1899,  he  suggested  the  holding  of  another  Pan  American 
Congress.  The  Mexican  government  which  under  Diaz  was 
staying  very  close  to  the  United  States,  gave  the  invitation  to 
all  the  American  Republics.  On  October  22,  1901,  the 


200 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


congress  opened  its  sessions  in  Mexico  City,  and  continued 
in  session  until  January  31,  1902.  Representatives  of  all  the 
American  nations  were  present. 

The  chief  subject  of  discussion  was  obligatory  arbitration. 
During  the  first  few  weeks  of  the  sessions  relations  were 
somewhat  strained,  since  Chile  was  ready  to  withdraw  if  the 
subject  was  brought  up,  on  account  of  her  troubles  with 
Peru  over  Tacna  and  Arica.  Brazil  also  was  strongly  op- 
posed to  the  discussion  on  account  of  boundary  questions 
writh  her  western  neighbors. 

The  Argentine  delegation  to  the  Congress  presented  a 
brilliant  document  in  which  an  exhaustive  review  was  given 
of  that  country’s  treaties  of  arbitration  and  of  its  references 
to  arbitrable  justice  and  arbitrable  jurisdiction  in  America. 
It  was  added  that  “the  day  will  arrive  when  all  the  arbitrable 
jurisdiction  will  be  inclosed  within  a single  article  of  univer- 
sal positive  law,  compiled  in  analogous  wording  to  that  of 
the  treaty  celebrated  between  Argentina  and  the  kingdom  of 
Italy  on  June  23,  1898.”  That  treaty  provides  that : 

The  high  contracting  parties  obligate  themselves  to  sub- 
mit to  arbitrable  judgment  all  disputes  of  whatever  nature 
that  from  any  cause  whatsoever  may  arise  between  them 
during  the  existence  of  the  present  treaty  in  regard  to  which 
no  friendly  solution  may  have  been  attained  as  the  result  of 
direct  negotiation.  It  matters  not  that  such  controversies 
may  have  originated  in  circumstances  which  may  have 
sprung  from  facts  anterior  to  this  stipulation  in  the  present 
treaty. 

After  much  wrangling  a majority  of  the  delegations  signed 
a project  whereby  their  countries  should  become  parties  to 
the  Hague  Conventions  of  1899,  which  provide  for  volun- 
tary arbitration.  At  the  same  time  ten  delegations  signed 
a proposal  for  a treaty  providing  for  compulsory  arbitration. 
These  were  the  delegations  from  Argentina,  Bolivia,  Guate- 
mala, Mexico,  Paraguay,  Peru,  Salvador,  Santo  Domingo, 
Uruguay  and  Venezuela. 

The  conference  also  approved  a project  for  a treaty 
whereby  controversies  arising  from  pecuniary  claims  of  in- 
dividuals of  one  country  against  the  government  of  another 
should  be  submitted  to  the  arbitration  court  established  by 


PAN  AMERICAN  CONFERENCES 


201 


the  Hague  Convention.  The  conference  requested  the 
United  States  and  Mexico  to  negotiate  for  the  admission  of 
the  other  American  republics  to  the  Hague  Conference.  The 
application  to  the  Hague  Tribunal  to  regulate  controversies 
between  American  states  rising  out  of  private  claims  may 
be  well  considered  an  important  milestone  in  the  progress  of 
the  world  toward  a normal  and  continuous  application  of 
international  law. 

This  conference  ratified  a resolution  of  the  First  Confer- 
ence recommending  the  construction  of  complementary  lines 
of  the  proposed  Pan  American  railway  and  adopted  resolu- 
tions approving  many  steps  calculated  to  bring  about  closer 
commercial  relations.  In  the  matter  of  international  sani- 
tation the  successful  work  of  the  United  States  in  Havana, 
Santiago  and  other  Cuban  cities  had  created  a general  de- 
mand for  the  extension  of  such  methods  for  the  suppression 
of  epidemics  throughout  both  continents. 

Although  by  1906,  date  of  the  Third  Conference,  neither 
Argentina,  Chile  nor  Brazil  had  adopted  any  of  the  treaties 
proposed  by  the  conference,  and  the  United  States  had  only 
accepted  the  convention  concerning  pecuniary  claims,  the 
Second  Conference  represents  a decided  progress  in  the  de- 
velopment of  American  international  relations.  For  the 
second  time  it  had  been  possible  in  the  presence  of  radical 
differences  of  opinion  to  find  a basis  for  mutual  understand- 
ing and  for  cooperation  in  a number  of  important  matters. 

THIRD  PAN  AMERICAN  CONGRESS 

The  Third  Pan  American  Conference  was  held  at  Rio  de 
Janeiro,  July  2ist-August  26th,  1906.  The  United  States 
and  all  the  Latin  American  countries,  with  the  exceptions  of 
Haiti  and  Venezuela,  were  represented.  The  conference 
met  in  Monroe  Palace  under  most  auspicious  circumstances, 
since  it  had  behind  it  the  long  record  of  peace  and  goodwill 
between  Brazil  and  the  United  States.  A notable  contribu- 
tion to  this  conference  was  the  address  of  Elihu  Root,  then 
Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States,  who  was  at  the  time 
making  his  memorable  visit  to  South  America.  He  said,  in 
part : 


202 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


“I  bring  from  my  country  a special  greeting  to  her  elder 
sisters  in  the  civilization  of  America.  * * * Unlike  as  we  are 
in  many  respects,  we  are  alike  in  this,  that  we  are  all  en- 
gaged under  new  conditions,  and  free  from  the  traditional 
forms  and  limitations  of  the  Old  World,  in  working  out  the 
same  problem  of  popular  self-government.  * * * Nowhere 
in  the  world  has  this  progress  (that  of  the  world  towards 
more  perfect  popular  self-government)  been  more  marked 
than  in  Latin  America.  Out  of  the  wrack  of  Indian  fighting 
and  race  conflicts  and  civil  wars,  strong  and  stable  govern- 
ments have  arisen.  Peaceful  succession  in  accord  with  the 
people’s  will  has  replaced  the  forcible  seizure  of  power  per- 
mitted by  the  people’s  indifference.  Loyalty  to  country,  its 
peace,  its  dignity,  its  honor,  has  risen  above  partisanship  for 
individual  leaders. 

“It  is  not  by  national  isolation  that  these  results  have 
been  accomplished,  or  that  this  progress  can  be  continued. 
No  nation  can  live  unto  itself  alone  and  continue  to  live. 
Each  nation’s  growth  is  a part  of  the  development  of  the 
race.  There  may  be  leaders  and  there  may  be  laggards,  but 
no  nation  can  long  continue  very  far  in  advance  of  the  gen- 
eral progress  of  mankind,  and  no  nation  that  is  not  doomed 
to  extinction  can  remain  very  far  behind.  It  is  with  nations 
as  it  is  with  individual  men ; intercourse,  association,  correc- 
tion of  egotism  by  the  influence  of  others’  judgment,  broad- 
ening of  views  by  the  experience  and  thought  of  equals,  ac- 
ceptance of  the  moral  standards  of  a community  the  desire 
for  whose  good  opinion  lends  a sanction  to  the  rules  of  right 
conduct — these  are  the  conditions  of  growth  in  civilization. 

“To  promote  this  mutual  interchange  and  assistance  be- 
tween the  American  Republics,  engaged  in  the  same  great 
task,  inspired  by  the  same  purpose,  and  professing  the  same 
principles,  I understand  to  be  the  function  of  the  American 
Conference  now  in  session.  There  is  not  one  of  all  our 
countries  that  cannot  benefit  the  others ; there  is  not  one  that 
cannot  receive  benefit  from  the  others ; there  is  not  one  that 
will  not  gain  by  the  prosperity,  the  peace,  the  happiness  of 
all.  These  beneficent  results,  the  Government  and  the  people 
of  the  United  States  of  America  greatly  desire.  We  wish 
for  no  victories  but  those  of  peace;  for  no  territory  except 


PAN  AMERICAN  CONFERENCES 


203 


our  own;  for  no  sovereignty  except  the  sovereignty  over 
ourselves.  We  deem  the  independence  and  equal  rights  of 
the  smallest  and  weakest  member  of  the  family  of  nations 
entitled  to  as  much  respect  as  those  of  the  greatest  empire, 
and  we  deem  the  observance  of  that  respect  the  chief  guar- 
anty of  the  weak  against  the  oppression  of  the  strong.  We 
neither  claim  nor  desire  any  rights,  or  privileges,  or  powers 
that  we  do  not  freely  concede  to  every  American  Republic. 
We  wish  to  increase  our  prosperity,  to  expand  our  trade,  to 
grow  in  wealth,  in  wisdom,  and  in  spirit,  but  our  conception 
of  the  true  way  to  accomplish  this  is  not  to  pull  down  others 
and  profit  by  their  ruin,  but  to  help  all  friends  to  a common 
prosperity  and  a common  growth,  that  we  may  all  become 
greater  and  stronger  together.” 

The  subjects  considered  at  this  Third  Congress  were  much 
the  same  as  at  the  two  preceding.  With  respect  to  arbitra- 
tion this  conference  passed  a -resolution  that  the  delegates 
from  the  American  republics  to  the  Second  Conference  at 
the  Hague  be  instructed  to  endeavor  to  secure  there  “the 
celebration  of  a general  arbitration  convention  SO'  effective 
and  definite  that,  meriting  the  approval  of  the  .civilized 
world,  it  shall  be  accepted  and  put  in  force  by  every  nation.” 

It  was  considered  unwise  to  pass  any  resolutions  concern- 
ing the  collection  of  debts  by  force  of  arms,  since  the  nations 
represented  were  chiefly  debtor  nations.  It  was  therefore 
recommended  that  the  “Governments  represented  therein 
consider  the  point  of  inviting  the  Second  Peace  Conference 
at  the  Hague  to  consider  the  question  of  compulsory  collec- 
tion of  public  debts,  and,  in  general,  means  tending  to  dimin- 
ish between  nations  conflicts  having  an  exclusive  pecuniary 
origin.” 

With  respect  to  copyrights,  patents  and  trademarks  this 
conference  reaffirmed  the  convention  of  the  Second  Confer- 
ence, with  some  modifications : two  international  bureaus, 
one  in  Havana  and  one  in  Rio,  were  established  for  the 
registration  of  patents  and  trademarks,  etc. ; provision  was 
also  made  for  a center  of  sanitary  information  in  Monte- 
video; with  respect  to  naturalization  it  recommended  that 
whenever  a native  of  one  country  who  has  been  naturalized 


204 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


in  another  again  takes  up  his  residence  in  his  native  country 
without  intending  to  return  to  his  adopted  country  he  should 
be  considered  as  having  reassumed  his  original  citizenship. 

The  Bureau  of  the  American  Republics  was  reorganized 
at  this  conference.  Its  duties  were  defined  as  follows : to 
assist  in  securing  ratification  of  resolutions  and  conventions 
adopted  by  the  conferences ; to  prepare  complete  reports  upon 
problems  especially  committed  to  it  by  any  conference  to  be 
subjects  of  discussion  at  later  meetings;  and  to  act  as  a 
bureau  of  educational  information.  Each  country  was  called 
upon  to  appoint  a permanent  commission  on  Pan  American 
affairs.  With  the  cooperation  of  these  commissions  the 
Bureau  of  American  Republics  was  directed  to  make  special 
investigation  into  the  conditions  of  internal  improvements 
and  the  laws  governing  mining  and  forest  conserves  in  the 
various  American  states,  and  make  the  bureau  an  efficient 
agent  in  the  internal  development  of  the  American  republics. 
Most  of  these  countries  were  in  need  of  capital  and  immi- 
grants and  it  was  believed  that  by  the  diffusion  of  correct 
information  concerning  industrial  conditions  a valuable 
service  might  be  rendered. 

The  Third  Conference  was  distinguished  from  its  pred- 
ecessors by  the  fact  that  the  plans  for  the  regulation  and 
arrangement  of  it  and  its  discussions  had  been  made  by  the 
governing  body  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Republics,  and 
the  time  allowed  for  its  sessions  was  not  to  exceed  six  weeks. 
The  feeling  was  general  among  those  who  arranged  it  and 
those  who  composed  its  membership  that  it  would  not  be 
advisable  to  inaugurate  sweeping  policies  or  attempt  radical 
changes.  It  sought  to  improve  conventions  already  existing 
and  devote  itself  to  detailed  structural  changes  and  adminis- 
trative arrangements.  Its  action  was  mainly  suggestive, 
calling  attention  to  new  lines  of  international  activity,  new 
possibilities  of  development,  and  charging  the  Bureau  of 
American  Republics  to  make  preliminary  investigations. 
The  debates  took  place  within  committees  and  the  resolu- 
tions there  adopted  were  accepted  without  dissension  on  the 
part  of  the*conference.  Its  predecessors  had  been  charac- 
terized by  serious  debates.  The  conventions  adopted  by  the 
Rio  de  Janeiro  Conference  have  received  much  attention 


PAN  AMERICAN  CONFERENCES 


205 


from  the  American  governments  and  have  been  quite  gen- 
erally ratified. 

THE  FOURTH  PAN  AMERICAN  CONGRESS 

The  Fourth  Conference,  held  at  Buenos  Aires,  July- Au- 
gust, 1910,  commemorated  the  independence  of  the  Ameri- 
can nations  and  their  willingness  to  continue  to  act  upon  the 
basis  of  a common  American  policy.  It  was  carried  on  under 
rules  and  regulations  laid  down  by  the  governing  board,  so 
that  it  was  possible  for  it  to  confine  itself  to  the  task  of  work- 
ing out  treaties  and  resolutions  on  the  subjects  of  the  pro- 
gram. The  business  of  the  conference  was  distributed 
among  fourteen  committees,  on  six  of  which  every  delega- 
tion was  represented.  These  committees  considered  the 
various  questions,  which  included  the  matter  of  improve- 
ments in  the  organization  of  the  Pan  American  Union;  the 
completion  of  the  Pan  American  Railway;  the  establishment 
of  a more  rapid  steamship  service  between  the . republics ; 
uniformity  in  consular  documents  and  customs  regulations; 
international  sanitation;  treaties  on  arrangements  concern- 
ing copyrights,  patents  and  trademarks ; treaties  on  the  arbi- 
tration of  pecuniary  claims  and  the  interchange  of  profes- 
sors and  students  among  the  American  universities. 

In  the  matter  of  copyrights,  etc.,  it  was  agreed  that  rights 
of  literary  property  obtained  in  one  state,  in  conformity 
with  its  laws,  were  to  be  of  full  effect  in  all  others  without 
the  necessity  of  fulfilling  any  further  formality,  whenever 
there  appears  in  the  record  some  statement  indicating  the 
reservation  of  the  property  right. 

Measures  regulating  the  rules  of  procedure  of  the  confer- 
ence were  passed.  A regulation  was  established  that  sub- 
jects not  included  in  the  program  should  not  be  introduced 
unless  by  a favorable  vote  of  two-thirds  of  the  members. 
This  rule  found  its  basis  in  the  important  fact  that  interna- 
tional conferences  are  not  composed  of  legislators  but  rather 
of  delegates  working  under  instruction  of  their  govern- 
ments. It  is  therefore  necessary  that  the  subjects  to  be  dis- 
cussed shall  be  known  to  the  governments  beforehand  in 
order  that  they  may  instruct  their  delegates  how  to  act. 

It  was  also  decided  that  a government  which  has  broken 


206 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


off  diplomatic  relations  with  the  government  acting  as  host 
to  the  conference  is  entitled  nevertheless  to  send  a delega- 
tion. Republics  not  having  diplomatic  representatives  in 
Washington  may  entrust  their  representation  to  other  mem- 
bers of  the  body  who  then  have  a vote  for  each  country 
represented.  Full  enjoyment  of  the  rights  of  membership 
is  based  upon  the  maintenance  of  a stable  and  undivided 
government. 

The  organization  and  duties  of  the  existing  Bureau  of 
American  Republics  were  still  more  clearly  defined  at  this 
conference.  The  presidency  of  this  institution  was  accorded 
to  the  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States,  according  to 
the  common  international  practice  of  giving  similar  positions 
to  the  minister  of  foreign  relations  of  the  country  in  which 
the  union  has  its  seat.  It  was  also  felt  that  the  dignity  and 
efficiency  of  the  Bureau  would  be  increased  in  this  way.  The 
name  of  the  organization  was  changed  to  “The  Pan  Ameri- 
can Union.” 

Its  functions  were  enlarged : to  compile  and  distribute  data 
and  information  regarding  commerce,  industry,  agriculture, 
education  and  general  progress  in  the  American  countries; 
to  collect  and  classify  information  concerning  treaties,  etc., 
between  the  American  republics ; to  contribute  to  the  develop- 
ment of  commerce  and  intellectual  relations  between  the 
American  republics ; to  act  as  the  permanent  commission  on 
international  American  conferences ; to  present  to  the  vari- 
ous governments  a report  on  the  institution’s  work,  before 
the  meeting  of  each  conference.  Its  meetings  shall  be  held 
monthly  and  be  composed  of  representatives  of  American 
states  which  maintain  diplomatic  representation  at  Washing- 
ton. Five  members  form  a quorum.  Any  government  has 
the  right  to  withdraw  from  the  Union  upon  giving  two 
years’  notice  to  the  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States. 
Only  the  essential  bases  of  the  organization  were  laid  down, 
leaving  to  the  director  and  the  governing  board  the  power 
to  determine  all  details  concerning  the  performance  of  the 
mission  of  this  union.  It  is  a truly  international  agency. 
Its  action  is  based  upon  the  unanimous  consent  of  all  the 
states  composing  it  and  no  power  or  group  of  powers  claims 
for  itself  a determining  influence. 


PAN  AMERICAN  CONFERENCES 


207 


The  committees  during  the  Buenos  Aires  conference 
were  given  time  and  opportunity  for  a thorough  discussion 
of  their  respective  subjects.  The  manner  in  which  the  con- 
ference proceeded  was  exceedingly  businesslike.  It  did  not 
spend  its  efforts  in  spectacular  oratory,  somewhat  to  the 
disappointment  of  the  local  press,  but  directed  itself  quietly 
and  persistently  to  the  accomplishment  of  the  purposes  be- 
fore it — that  is  to  improve,  in  general  bearing  and  detail, 
the  relations  between  the  republics  along  the  lines  determined 
by  the  program  of  the  conference. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  happenings  in  the  conference 
related  to  the  discussion  concerning  the  Monroe  Doctrine 
which  was  carried  on  privately  between  several  delegations 
but  never  brought  on  the  floor  of  the  conference  itself. 
Since  it  is  an  interesting  side  light  on  our  general  subject  as 
well  as  on  the  workings  of  these  conferences,  we  will  follow 
the  discussion  as  reported  by  the  Chilean  diplomat,  Alejan- 
dro Alvarez.  It  seems  that  the  late  Ambassador  of  Brazil 
to  the  United  States,  his  Excellency  Senor  Juaquin  Nabuco, 
had  cherished  the  idea  of  presenting  to  the  conference  at 
Buenos  Aires  a motion  which  would  register  the  recognition 
by  all  the  countries  of  America  of  the  fact  that  the  Monroe 
Doctrine  had  been  beneficial  to  them.  Nabuco,  at  his  death, 
had  left  in  writing  a formal  declaration,  which  the  Govern- 
ment of  Brazil,  out  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  the  great 
statesman,  desired  to  have  presented  to  the  conference  with- 
out change.  His  Excellency,  Senor  Da  Gama,  Brazilian 
ambassador  to  Argentina,  presented  the  matter  previously  to 
Argentina  and  Chile,  saying  that  his  government  was  desir- 
ous of  counting  in  this  move  on  the  cooperation  of  Argentina 
and  Chile.  The  proposition,  furthermore,  was  to  be  pre- 
sented only  in  case  the  acquiescence  of  all  the  other  delega- 
tions could  be  counted  on  beforehand,  so  that  it  would  be 
approved  without  criticism. 

The  resolution  of  Nabuco,  endorsed  by  the  Brazilian  dele- 
gation, was  in  these  words : “The  long  period  which  has 
transpired  since  the  declaration  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  per- 
mits us  to  recognize  in  it  a permanent  factor  making  for 
international  peace  upon  the  American  Continent.  For  this 
reason,  while  celebrating  the  centenary  of  her  first  efforts 


208 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


towards  independence,  Latin  America  sends  to  her  Great 
Sister  Nation  of  the  North,  an  expression  of  her  thanks  for 
that  noble  and  unselfish  action  which  has  been  of  so  great 
benefit  to  the  entire  New  World.” 

Chile  did  not  feel,  however,  that  she  could  indorse  such  a 
resolution,  and  proposed  the  following  as  a substitute : 

“Since  their  independence  the  nations  of  America  have 
proclaimed  the  right  thereby  acquired  of  excluding  European 
intervention  in  their  internal  affairs,  and,  also,  the  principle 
that  the  territory  of  the  New  World  cannot  be  made  the 
object  of  future  colonization.  These  principles,  clearly  for- 
mulated and  solemnly  expressed  by  President  Monroe  in 
1823,  constitute  a factor  which  has  contributed  towards 
guaranteeing  the  sovereignty  of  the  nations  of  this  conti- 
nent. Wherefore  Latin  America,  celebrating  the  one  hun- 
dredth anniversary  of  her  independence,  sends  now  to  the 
Great  Sister  Nation  of  the  North  the  expression  of  her 
adhesion  to  that  idea  of  solidarity,  as  in  the  past  she  joined 
her  in  proclaiming  those  principles  and  upholding  them  for 
the  benefit  of  the  entire  New  World.” 

Senor  Alvarez  of  Chile  and  Senor  Da  Gama  of  Brazil 
then  got  together  and  agreed  on  the  following  compromise 
resolution : 

“The  long  period  which  has  transpired  since  the  declara- 
tion of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  permits  us  to  recognize  in  it  a 
permanent  factor  making  for  external  peace  upon  the  Ameri- 
can Continent.  It  gave  concrete  and  solemn  expression  to 
the  aims  of  Latin  America  from  the  commencement  of  her 
political  independence.  For  this  reason,  while  celebrating 
the  centennial  of  their  first  efforts  towards  independence, 
the  nations  represented  in  the  Fourth  Pan  American  Confer- 
ence send  to  their  Great  Sister  Nation  of  the  North  the  ex- 
pression of  their  adhesion  to  that  noble  and  unselfish  action, 
of  such  beneficial  consequence  for  the  New  World.” 

This  was  presented  to  the  delegations  of  Argentina  (all 
but  two  members  of  which  approved  it  as  drawn  up)  and 


PAN  AMERICAN  CONFERENCES 


209 


Chile,  the  members  of  which  believed  that  another  formula 
must  be  sought  which  would  not  lend  itself  to  false  interpre- 
tations by  Europe,  the  United  States  and  the  rest  of  America. 
Their  proposal  was  in  the  following  terms : 

“Upon  celebrating  the  centennial  of  their  first  efforts  to- 
wards political  independence  the  nations  represented  in  the 
Fourth  Pan  American  Conference  send  to  their  Great  Sister 
Nation  of  the  North  the  expression  of  their  thanks,  and 
record  the  conviction  that  the  declarations  contained  in  the 
message  of  President  Monroe  met  the  aims  of  all  America 
and  contributed  effectively  to  guarantee  its  independence.” 

By  now  the  situation  was  complicated.  The  delegation  of 
the  United  States,  consulted  in  regard  to  the  whole  matter, 
made  it  clear  that  while  it  would  be  very  acceptable  for 
Latin  America  to  make  the  Monroe  Doctrine  hers,  if  in  do- 
ing this  she  was  going  to  create  dissensions  in  the  assembly, 
it  was  preferable  to  make  no  presentation  of  the  subject  at 
all.  The  Brazilian  delegation  thus  realized  that  a unanimous 
assent  to  its  views  was  not  easy  to  obtain ; for  though  every- 
one agreed  as  to  the  basic  factors  of  the  resolution  it  was 
very  difficult  to  reduce  it  to  a brief  form  satisfactory  to 
everybody.  In  view  of  this  the  delegation  did  not  further 
push  its  project. 

So,  while  all  the  countries  of  America  there  represented 
were  agreed  that  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  as  it  was  formulated 
in  1823,  is  in  accord  with  the  aims  of  the  New  World  and 
forms  a part  of  its  public  law,  yet  it  was  very  difficult  to 
find  a wording,  which,  without  exciting  the  susceptibility  of 
Europe,  would  be  satisfactory  to  all  the  countries  of  Amer- 
ica. There  were  some  states  which  desired  to  see  incor- 
porated with  the  principles  of  that  Doctrine  other  principles 
limiting  the  hegemony  of  the  United  States. 

Such  conferences  as  those  held  at  Washington,  Mexico, 
Rio  de  Janeiro  and  Buenos  Aires  are  by  nature  informatory 
rather  than  administrative.  They  determine  the  bases  for 
unanimous  or  almost  unanimous  international  treaties.  But 
they  have  been  highly  appreciated  by  the  public  and  the 
press  of  Latin  America.  The  indications  are  that  an  in- 


210 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


creasing  number  of  their  proposals  will  be  ratified  by  the 
nations  concerned.  They  have  done  much  to  develop  a de- 
sire for  the  solidarity  of  America. 

The  concrete  results  of  these  conferences  have  not  been 
much  greater  than  the  series  formerly  held  in  South  Amer- 
ica, but  the  fact  that  the  Pan  American  Union  exists  and 
has  the  opportunity  to  do  a really  constructive  work  means 
that,  as  the  American  nations  grow  to  realize  their  com- 
munity of  interests,  the  importance  of  its  services  and  the 
weight  of  its  decisions  will  increase  and  it  will  form  a bond 
among  the  American  states.  As  Don  Alejandro  Alvarez 
says:  “The  happiest  results  of  the  Pan  American  Confer- 
ences are  that  they  harmonize  all  the  states  of  America  and 
that  they  contribute  powerfully  in  developing  and  forming 
upon  its  true  basis  the  American  Conscience,  a conscience 
which  is  one  of  the  characteristics  of  the  contemporary  po- 
litical life  of  the  States  of  the  New  World.” 

VARIOUS  ASPECTS  OF  PAN  AMERICANISM 

Pan  Americanism  has  two  aspects,  the  relations  of  all 
America  to  non-American  powers  and  the  relations  of  the 
various  American  nations  to  one  another.  The  first  aspect 
of  the  matter  has  been  looked  at  with  much  unanimity,  the 
United  States  announcing  it  through  the  Monroe  Doctrine 
and  the  other  governments  taking  practically  the  same  atti- 
tude individually,  if  not  always  in  specific  pronounce- 
ments. 

As  to  the  second  aspect,  the  relations  of  American  Govern- 
ments with  one  another,  there  are  five  questions  that  stand 
out  prominently — commercial  intercourse,  arbitration, 

boundary  questions,  intervention,  and  mediation.  We  have 
seen  that  commercial  intercourse  and  arbitration  'were  thor- 
oughly treated  in  Pan  American  Congresses.  The  last  three 
matters,  boundaries,  intervention  and  mediation,  are  more 
delicate  and  more  difficult  and  have  had  less  frank  and  open 
discussion. 

It  must  be  said  to  the  credit  of  the  American  nations  that, 
while  there  have  been  a great  many  international  differences 
among  them  concerning  boundary  lines,  these  problems  have 


PAN  AMERICAN  CONFERENCES 


211 


almost  always  been  settled  by  arbitration.  For  example,  the 
question  of  boundaries  between  Argentina  and  Chile,  which 
first  arose  in  1843,  had  brought  about  quite  a serious  situa- 
tion in  1881.  The  ministers  of  the  United  States  in  San- 
tiago and  Buenos  Aires  brought  about  the  signing  of  a 
treaty  by  these  two  nations,  which  it  was  hoped  would  settle 
the  matter.  Among  other  things  this  treaty  stipulated  a 
resort  to  arbitration  should  the  question  be  brought  forward 
again,  as  it  was  in  1896.  It  was  upon  this  occasion  that 
W.  I.  Buchanan  performed  an  outstanding  service  as  a Pan 
American,  in  his  capacity  as  Minister  of  the  United  States 
to  the  Argentine.  Through  the  satisfactory  decision  of  the 
King  of  England,  as  arbitrator,  in  1902,  the  dispute  was 
finally  settled.  In  commemoration  of  the  happy  termination 
of  the  controversy  a statue  of  Christ,  the  Prince  of  Peace, 
was  erected  on  the  crest  of  the  mountains  which  form  the 
boundary  between  Argentina  and  Chile.  It  is  known  as 
“El  Cristo  de  los  Andes,”  and  appropriately  bears  witness 
to  the  noble  spirit  and  idealism  to  which  it  is  a monument. 
On  the  base  of  this  most  unique  monument  are  written  these 
impressive  words : “Sooner  shall  these  mountains  become 
dust  than  that  the  peoples  of  Argentina  and  Chile  shall  break 
the  peace  which  they  have  pledged  at  the  feet  of  their  Re- 
deemer.” 


INTERVENTION 

The  governments  of  Latin  America  have  continually  op- 
posed the  policy  of  outside  intervention  in  the  internal  af- 
fairs of  any  of  the  American  republics.  Alberdi  is  the  one 
outstanding  statesman  who  was  willing  to  admit  interven- 
tion and  even  recommended  the  inclusion  of  the  principle  in 
the  public  law  of  the  continent.  Calvo,  on  the  other  hand, 
who  claimed  that  the  independence  of  the  states,  with  all 
the  corresponding  rights,  must  be  absolute,  represents  the 
general  position  of  Latin  America  on  the  subject.  Interven- 
tion may  be  diplomatic,  pacific,  armed,  official  or  unofficial, 
but  the  term  is  generally  understood  to  mean  armed  inter- 
vention. The  French  intervention  in  the  Rio  de  la  Plata 
from  1838  until  1840,  the  Anglo-French  from  1848  to  1850, 
and  the  joint  action  of  England,  France  and  Spain  against 


212 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


Mexico,  in  1861,  and  the  intervention  of  Germany,  France 
and  England  in  Venezuela  in  1902  are  the  outstanding 
armed  interventions  in  American  affairs  by  European 
nations. 

Armed  intervention  in  Latin  America,  or  at  least  in  the 
Caribbean  district,  by  the  United  States  has  lately  become 
rather  frequent.  As  pointed  out  in  a later  chapter,  it 
has  included  sending  armed  forces  into  Cuba,  Nicaragua, 
Haiti  and  Santo  Domingo.  Some  classify  the  capture  of 
Vera  Cruz  and  the  Pershing  Expedition  as  intervention  in 
Mexico.  But  these  had  specific  objects  of  punishing  par- 
ticular deeds  and  did  not  extend  to  taking  over  the  country. 
Some  also  claim  that  non-recognition  of  a government,  in 
the  case  of  the  LTnited  States  and  the  rest  of  America,  where 
the  former  has  so  preponderant  an  influence,  is  equivalent  to 
intervention.  Theoretically  the  United  States  has  always 
stood  for  the  doctrine  of  non-intervention  in  the  internal 
affairs  of  a sovereign  nation.  That  was  clearly  involved  in 
Washington’s  doctrine  of  no  entangling  alliances.  General 
Grant  said  in  his  Message  to  Congress,  December  6,  1869 : 

“As  the  United  States  is  the  freest  of  all  nations,  so,  too, 
its  people  sympathize  with  all  people  struggling  for  liberty 
and  self-government,  but  while  so  sympathizing  it  is  due 
to  our  honor  that  we  shall  abstain  from  enforcing  our  views 
upon  unwilling  nations  and  from  taking  an  interested  part, 
'without  invitation,  in  the  quarrels  between  different  nations 
or  between  governments  and  their  subjects.” 

Our  statesmen  still  talk  that  way,  as  a usual  thing,  but  a 
different  practice  has  been  followed  in  the  Caribbean,  and' 
the  jingoes  are  continually  urging  intervention  in  Mexico 
and  other  countries  where  commercial  interests  are  dis- 
turbed. Other  reasons,  such  as  the  protection  of  nationals, 
may  be  alleged,  but  the  supreme  reason  for  intervention  is 
almost  universally  financial.  The  right  and  the  justice  of 
such  intervention  continues  to  be  a much  debated  subject. 

While  the  practice  of  states  is  quite  well  established  in 
dealing  with  two  of  the  three  kinds  of  claims  that  citizens 
of  one  country  may  hold  against  the  government  of  another 


PAN  AMERICAN  CONFERENCES 


213 


— those  for  injury  to  person,  the  destruction  or  confiscation 
of  property,  or  pecuniary  obligations — claims  of  the  third 
class  have  received  little  attention  from 'writers  of  interna- 
tional law  because  states  have,  in  the  past,  usually  drawn  a 
sharp  distinction  between  contractual  and  other  claims, 
largely  disregarding  the  former. 

In  1848  Lord  Palmerston  stated  that  the  government  of 
Great  Britain  has  usually  considered  it  undesirable  that  its 
subjects  should  invest  their  capital  in  loans  to  foreign  gov- 
ernments, instead  of  employing  it  in  profitable  undertak- 
ings at  home ; and  that  with  a view  to  discouraging  hazard- 
ous loans  to  foreign  governments  the  British  government 
had  hitherto  thought  it  best  to  abstain  from  taking  up  as  in- 
ternational questions  complaints  made  by  British  subjects 
against  foreign  states.  This  policy  was  reaffirmed  by  Lord 
Salisbury  in  1880. 

The  policy  of  the  United  States,  which  is  substantially  in 
accord  with  the  above,  is  well  summarized  in  a dispatch  of 
Secretary  Bayard,  dated  June  24,  1885:  “(1)  All  that  our 
Government  undertakes,  when  the  claim  is  merely  contrac- 
tual, is  to  interpose  its  good  offices;  in  other  words,  to  ask 
the  attention  of  the  foreign  sovereign  to  the  claim ; and  this 
is  only  done  when  the  claim  is  one  susceptible  of  strong  and 
clear  proof.  (2)  If  the  sovereign  appealed  to  denies  the 
validity  of  the  claim  or  refuses  its  payment,  the  matter 
drops,  since  it  is  not  consistent  with  the  dignity  of  the 
United  States  to  press,  after  such  a refusal  or  denial,  a con- 
tractual claim  for  the  repudiation  of  which,  by  the  law  of 
nations,  there  is  no  redress.” 

President  Roosevelt  in  an  address  given  on  December  6, 
1904,  said: 

“Any  country  whose  people  conduct  themselves  well  can 
count  on  our  hearty  friendship.  If  a nation  shows  that  it 
knows  how  to  actjwith  reasonable  efficiency  and  decency  in 
social  and  political  matters,  if  it  keeps  order  and  pays  its 
obligations,  it  need  fear  no  interference  from  the  United 
States.  Chronic  wrongdoing,  or  an  impotence  which  re- 
sults in  a general  loosening  of  the  ties  of  civilized  society, 
may  in  America,  as  elsewhere,  ultimately  require  interven- 


214  PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 

tion  by  some  civilized  nation,  and,  in  the  western  hemisphere, 
the  adherence  of  the  United  States  to  the  Monroe  Doctrine 
may  force  the  United  States,  however  reluctantly,  in  flagrant 
cases  of  such  wrongdoing  or  impotence,  to  the  exercise  of 
an  international  police  power.” 

The  last  clause  of  this  message  contains  the  principle 
upon  which  arrangements  were  made  with  Santo  Domingo 
to  collect  her  customs  and  pay  her  debts. 

The  most  important  case  involving  collection  of  debts 
owed  Europeans  by  an  American  republic  was  that  of  Ger- 
many, Great  Britain  and  Italy  against  Venezuela  in  1902. 
The  nature  of  these  claims  and  their  collection  raised  all 
kinds  of  questions.  The  German  claims  may  be  taken  as 
typical;  one  was  for  dividends  guaranteed  by  the  Venezuelan 
government  on  railroad  stock  of  a line  built  by  German  sub- 
jects at  a cost  of  nearly  $20,000,000  and  for  the  recovery 
of  interest  in  arrears  on  public  bonds  issued  to  cover  the 
above;  another  of  $400,000  was  for  the  recovery  of  forced 
loans  made  during  the  civil  wars  of  1898-1900.  The  Eng- 
lish and  Italian  claims  were  similar. 

The  German  goyernment  secured  the  permission  of  the 
United  States,  by  assurance  that  no  violation  of  the  Monroe 
Doctrine  was  intended,  to  ask  V enezuela  to  acknowledge  her 
claims  and  that  a mixed  commission  be  appointed  to  fur- 
ther consider  the  matter.  Secretary  Hay  called  attention 
to  President  Roosevelt’s  message  of  December  3,  1901, 
wherein  he  proposed  that  the  United  States  act  as  an  “inter- 
national police  power”  or  agent  of  collection  in  such  cases. 
The  matter  dragged  on  for  a year,  when  on  December  20, 
1902,  Germany,  Great  Britain  and  Italy  established  a war- 
like blockade  of  Venezuelan  harbors,  without  declaring  war. 
This  met  with  strenuous  objection  from  the  United  States 
and  through  her  insistence,  an  agreement  was  reached  where- 
by Venezuela  recognized  the  justice  of  a part  of  the  claims, 
promising  to  set  aside  30  per  cent,  of  her  customs  receipts 
for  the  payment.  It  was  agreed  that  the  claims  be  sub- 
mitted to  a mixed  commission.  The  blockading  powers  de- 
manded payment  of  their  claims  before  those  of  the  peace 
powers.  Venezuela  insisted  that  all  creditors  be  treated 


PAN  AMERICAN  CONFERENCES 


215 


alike.  The  demand  for  preferential  treatment  was  submitted 
to  the  Hague  Tribunal  and  was  allowed  in  a decision  ren- 
dered February  22,  1904. 

One  of  the  results  of  the  Venezuelan  Claims  Case  was 
the  pronouncement  of  the  Drago  Doctrine.  Briefly,  this 
means  that  public  debts  give  no  right  to  armed  intervention 
or  the  occupation  of  territory  of  a debtor  state.  This  was 
a long  stride  ahead  of  the  old  position  taken  by  the  countries 
which  intervened  in  Mexico  in  1862,  in  which  intervention 
in  its  initial  stages  the  United  States  acquiesced. 

President  Roosevelt  also  declared  that  the  Monroe  Doc- 
trine would  not  be  stretched  to  protect  the  Latin  American 
countries  in  evading  the  payment  of  debts.  With  the  ques- 
tion of  the  Venezuelan  claims  of  Germany  in  mind,  he  said 
in  a message  to  Congress  on  December  3,  1901 : 

“This  (Monroe)  Doctrine  has  nothing  to  do  with  the 
commercial  relations  of  any  American  power,  save  that  it  in 
truth  allows  each  of  them  to  form  such  as  it  desires.  In 
other  words,  it  is  really  a guarantee  of  the  commercial  in- 
dependence of  the  Americas.  We  do  not  ask  under  this 
Doctrine  for  any  exclusive  commercial  dealings  with  any 
other  American  state.  We  do  not  guarantee  any  state 
against  punishment,  if  it  misconducts  itself,  provided  that 
punishment  does  not  take  the  form  of  the  acquisition  of 
territory  by  any  non-American  power.” 

It  was  this  declaration  that  brought  the  vigorous  protest 
from  the  Argentine  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  whose  po- 
sition that  nations  did  not  have  the  right  to  intervene  for 
the  collection  of  debts  became  known  by  his  name.  In  this 
message  Drago  contended  that  the  “collection  of  loans  by 
military  means  implies  territorial  occupation  to  make  them 
effective,  and  territorial  occupation  signifies  the  suppression 
or  subordination  of  the  governments  of  the  countries  on 
which  it  is  imposed.” 

The  Second  Hague  Conference  received  the  Drago  Doc- 
trine with  the  utmost  sympathy.  While  the  Conference  did 
not  go  the  entire  length  of  the  Drago  Doctrine,  it  did,  in 
adopting  the  Porter  Proposition,  provide  for  obligatory  ar- 


216 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


bitration  in  the  collection  of  contractual  indebtedness  before 
a resort  to  arms. 

By  the  Calvo  Doctrine,  announced  a little  later,  the  Ar- 
gentine statesman  of  that  name  pushed  still  further  the  ob- 
jection to  allowing  foreign  claims  to  threaten  a nation’s  sov- 
ereignty. The  Calvo  Doctrine  claims  that  governments  are 
not  responsible  for  losses  and  injuries  received  by  foreigners 
during  internal  disturbances.  Calvo  says : 

“To  admit  the  principle  of  indemnity  would  be  to  create 
an  exorbitant  and  pernicious  privilege,  essentially  favorable 
to  strong  states  and  injurious  to  feebler  nations  and  to  estab- 
lish an  unjustifiable  inequality  between  nationals  and  for- 
eigners. * * * To  sanction  such  indemnity,  we  should  do, 
although  indirectly,  a deep  injury  to  one  of  the  constituent 
elements  of  the  independence  of  nations,  that  of  territorial 
jurisdiction.” 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  this  advanced  position  was 
taken  in  the  treaty  signed  by  Peru  and  Argentina  on  March 
9,  1874. 


MEDIATION 

As  to  mediation,  the  three  outstanding  cases  where  prof- 
fered good  offices  were  freely  accepted  by  both  sides  were : 
Mediation  by  Mexico  and  the  United  States  in  the  Central 
American  Question  in  1907,  when,  because  of  the  succession 
of  attempts  at  union  and  separation  among  the  five  Central 
American  Republics,  Mexico  and  the  United  States  in  a sin- 
cere desire  to  help  those  unhappy  countries  to  bring  about 
peace,  offered  jointly  their  good  offices.  A great  achieve- 
ment was  accomplished  by  the  conference  which  followed, 
in  the  establishment  of  a Central  American  Court  of  Jus- 
tice “For  the  purpose  of  efficaciously  guaranteeing  their 
rights  and  maintaining  peace  and  harmony  inalterably  in 
their  relations,  without  being  obliged  to  resort  in  any  case 
to  the  employment  of  force.”  There  followed,  in  1910,  the 
successful  mediation  of  the  United  States,  Argentina  and 
Brazil  in  the  settlement  of  a serious  boundary  dispute  be- 


PAN  AMERICAN  CONFERENCES 


217 


tween  Peru  and  Ecuador,  which  threatened  to  involve  Bo- 
livia, Chile  and  Colombia;  and  finally  that  of  Argentina, 
Brazil  and  Chile  in  the  difference  between  the  United  States 
and  Mexico  in  1914. 

The  successful  Central  American  mediation  will  be  treat- 
ed in  the  chapter  on  the  Caribbean.  The  “Mexican  Media- 
tion” of  1914  had  a profound  effect  all  over  Latin  America, 
as  indicating  the  willingness  of  the  great  Northern  Repub- 
lic to  submit  its  American  relations  to  the  friendly  consid- 
eration of  other  American  countries,  in  the  same  way  it  had 
advocated  others  doing.  It  marked  a new  day  in  Pan  Ameri- 
can friendship  when  the  United  States  and  Mexico  accepted 
the  following  proposal  of  the  Ambassadors  of  the  ABC 
countries : “With  the  purpose  of  serving  the  interests  of 
peace  and  civilization  on  our  continent  and  with  the  earnest 
desire  to  prevent  any  further  bloodshed,  to  the  prejudice 
of  the  cordiality  and  union  which  has  always  surrounded  the 
relations  of  the  governments,  and  peoples  of  America,  we, 
the  plenipotentiaries  of  Brazil,  Argentina  and  Chile,  duly 
authorized  hereto,  have  the  honor  to  tender  to  your  Excel- 
lency’s government  our  good  offices  for  the  peaceful  and 
friendly  settlement  of  the  conflict  between  the  United  States 
and  Mexico.” 

I happened  to  be  in  Argentina  at  the  time  the  mediation 
was  announced.  There  was  a tremendous  change  in  public 
sentiment.  Student  demonstrations  in  favor  of  Mexico  and 
public  meetings  to  protest  against  Yankee  invasion  of  Latin 
America  were  called  off  and  the  public  press  radically 
changed  its  tone.  As  Dr.  Francisco  Castaneda  of  El  Sal- 
vador says : 

“A  most  important  happening,  one  which  the  political 
and  the  sociological  world  must  take  seriously  into  account, 
has  just  taken  place,  based  on  the  unfortunate  situation  in 
Mexico  and  the  international  conflict  which  seemed  immi- 
nent between  that  convulsed  nation  and  the  United  States. 
The  fact  to  which  I refer  is  the  generous  attitude  assumed 
by  the  three  most  important  nations  in  South  America,  Ar- 
gentina, Brazil  and  Chile,  by  means  of  which  their  repre- 
sentatives in  the  city  of  Washington  have  offered  their  good 


218 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


offices  to  the  contending  countries  in  order  to  find  a solu- 
tion of  the  difficulties  and  to  eliminate  a conflict  which 
would  have  such  disastrous  results.  The  conferences  of 
Niagara  Falls  have  held  during  three  months  the  interests 
of  the  whole  continent  and  the  debate  of  such  an  illustrious 
assembly  has  interested  the  press  everywhere,  coming  to  a 
climax  when  the  resolutions  were  adopted  which  eliminated 
the  war  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico.  The  ABC 
powers  will  from  now  on,  because  of  these  results,  be  a 
moral  and  political  entity  which  will  have  great  influence  in 
the  whole  continent.” 

THE  RESULTING  PAN  AMERICANISM 

Pan  Americanism  has  come  to  be  of  much  greater  im- 
portance of  recent  years  because  of  the  growing  recognition 
by  the  rest  of  the  world  of  the  importance  of  the  Ibero- 
American  countries.  At  the  opening  of  the  twentieth  cen- 
tury those  countries  were  an  unrecognized  power  in  the  coun- 
cil of  the  nations,  in  international  commerce  and  world 
peace.  As  Ugarte  said,  they  were  standing  on  the  margin 
of  the  horizon  of  international  life  at  the  opening  of  the 
present  century.  Their  advance  into  a position  of  impor- 
tance in  world  affairs  has  been  most  remarkable.  In  1906 
Secretarv  Root  made  his  remarkable  journey  through  the 
South  and  attracted  the  attention  of  the  world  to  these  coun- 
tries whose  history  and  potential  resources  he  so  faithfully 
interpreted  in  a series  of  remarkable  addresses.  In  1907 
the  Latin  American  delegates  for  the  first  time  took  their 
place  at  the  Council  table  of  the  nations  and  astounded  the 
world  by  the  brilliancy  of  their  representatives  at  the  Hague 
Conference.  In  1910  the  beautiful  building  of  the  Pan 
American  Union,  due  to  the  munificence  of  Andrew  Car- 
negie, was  dedicated  as  the  impressive  shrine  of  American 
Unity  and  the  workshop  of  practical  American  cooperation. 
In  1915  the  Panama  Canal  was  opened  and  sent  forth  a 
flood  of  compelling  motives  for  world  interest  in  Latin 
America.  In  1916  there  was  held  at  Panama  the  Congress 
on  Christian  Work  in  Latin  America,  which  brought  to- 
gether representatives  of  more  than  fifty  religious  organi- 


PAN  AMERICAN  CONFERENCES 


219 


zations  from  twenty-two  nations  to  study  the  spiritual,  edu- 
cational and  social  problems  of  these  southern  lands,  and 
aroused  a widespread  interest  in  the  churches  and  educa- 
tional circles  of  the  United  States  in  their  southern  neigh- 
bors. In  iot  c there  was  held  in  Washington  the  first  Pan 
American  Financial  Congress,  which  began  the  movement 
of  American  capital  and  ships  toward  the  South.  The  fol- 
lowing year  the  Second  Pan  American  Scientific  Congress 
met  in  Washington  and  brought  to  the  attention  of  the 
cultural  world  the  notable  circle  of  intellectuals  of  the  Latin 
American  countries. 

In  the  meantime  a remarkable  number  of  well-known  men 
from  Europe  and  North  America  were  making  visits  to  the 
South  and  telling  the  world  about  the  great  physical  and  in- 
tellectual riches  which  they  there  discovered.  Among  those 
visitors  were  such  makers  of  public  opinion  as  Clemenceau, 
Bryce,  Altamira,  Prince  Henry,  Blasco  Ibanez,  Bryan  and 
Roosevelt,  all  of  whom  wrote  material  reporting  their  visits, 
which  was  read  in  all  parts  of  the  world. 

Add  to  all  these  things  the  great  progress  which  has  been 
made  in  Latin  America  in  the  last  twenty  years  and  the  hurl- 
ing together  of  all  the  nations  by  the  World  War,  and  we 
have  the  principal  reasons  why  these  lands,  so  long  isolated, 
have  now  come  to  occupy  a prominent  place  in  the  thought 
of  the  world.  And  their  prominent  place  gives  added  im- 
portance to  the  question  of  Pan  Americanism. 

What  is  Pan  Americanism?  Some  will  think  this  ques- 
tion should  have  been  asked  and  answered  much  earlier  in 
this  discussion.  But  Pan  Americanism  is  more  of  a senti- 
ment and  an  aspiration  than  a tangible  svstem  which  can 
be  confined  within  certain  limitations  of  definition. 

The  term  itself  is  comparatively  modern.  It  was  first 
used  in  connection  with  the  first  Pan  American  Conference 
which  met  in  Washington  in  1889-1890.  The  New  York 
Evening  Post  seems  to  have  been  the  first  to  employ  the 
term,  in  its  edition  of  the  27th  of  September,  1889.  Follow- 
ing that  the  term  was  used  in  the  Washington  Conference, 
though  the  official  title  of  that  gathering  was  International 
American  Conference.  It  is  only  since  the  beginning  of  the 
twentieth  century  that  the  term  has  come  into  popular  use. 


220 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


It  recognizes  that  the  American  states  form  in  the  world 
an  independent  political  factor  and  possess  a political  sys- 
tem of  their  own.  It  emphasizes  the  principles  of  political 
action  created  by  the  American  states  in  the  course  of  their 
mutual  relations  and  stresses  the  moral  union  of  these 
states  based  on  a body  of  principles  developed  during  their 
struggle  for  independence  and  for  a real  democracy.  Lockey, 
who  has  made  one  of  the  most  careful  studies  of  the  ques- 
tion, says  that  these  principles  are  independence,  unity  of 
political  idealism,  territorial  integrity,  predominance  of 
right  over  force,  non-intervention,  equality,  cooperation. 

The  new  International  Encyclopedia  defines  Pan  Amer- 
icanism as  the  principle  of  an  alliance  or  a political  union  of 
the  various  states  of  the  western  hemisphere;  also  the  life 
of  the  American  people  expressed  in  the  republican  form  of 
government  and  tending  toward  such  a union.  Murray 
calls  it  the  idea  or  sentiment  of  an  alliance  or  political  union 
of  all  the  states  of  North  and  South  America.  The  His- 
panic-American  Encyclopedia  defines  it  as  the  aspiration  or 
tendency  of  the  people  of  the  New  World  to  establish  be- 
tween themselves  a bond  of  union,  to  promote  a good  un- 
derstanding and  harmonious  fraternity  between  the  states 
of  the  continents  and  to  work  always  together  against  the 
domination  and  the  influences  of  European  powers  in  Amer- 
ican territory. 

Blaine,  who  called  the  first  Pan  American  Conference, 
said  that  the  Garfield  government  had  two  purposes  in  its 
international  policy : “First,  to  develop  peace  and  to  pre- 
vent future  wars  in  North  and  South  America;  second,  to 
cultivate  such  relations  of  friendship  and  commerce  with  all 
the  American  countries  as  would  develop  a considerable 
commerce  of  exportation  from  the  United  States  and  fur- 
nish to  the  Latin  American  nations  those  articles  with  which 
we  are  amply  able  to  compete  with  the  manufacturing  na- 
tions of  Europe.  In  place  of  friendly  intervention  here  and 
there,  bringing  about  a treaty  between  two  countries,  set- 
tling some  dispute  between  two  others  tomorrow,  it  was 
evident  that  a more  comprehensive  plan  should  be  adopted 
if  these  wars  were  to  cease  on  the  Western  hemisphere.” 
Pan  Americanism,  then,  signified  to  Blaine  peace  and  com- 


PAN  AMERICAN  CONFERENCES 


221 


merce,  as  a result  of  friendly  advice  and  the  cooperation  of 
all  the  American  states  for  the  benefit  of  all. 

President  Roosevelt,  in  his  instructions  to  the  delegates 
of  the  United  States  to  the  Second  International  Confer- 
ence, meeting  in  Mexico  in  1901,  declared:  “The  principal 
interest  of  the  United  States  in  respect  to  the  other  republics 
of  the  American  continent  is  the  security  and  permanence 
of  the  political  system  in  which  they  find  their  existence 
and  the  existence  of  our  own  nation,  the  system  of  govern- 
ment by  the  people  themselves.  It  is  therefore  to  be  desired 
that  all  the  American  republics  enjoy  completely  the  bene- 
fits of  perfect  liberty  under  just  laws,  each  sovereign  nation 
pursuing  its  own  course  of  ordinary  development  without 
limitations  or  intervention  from  the  outside.  Nothing  is  of 
greater  importance  from  the  political  point  of  view  than 
the  understanding  that  the  United  States  are  the  friends  of 
all  the  Latin  American  republics  and  are  not  the  enemy  of 
any.  For  this  purpose  it  will  be  prudent  not  to  propose  any- 
thing radical,  to  favor  a free  expression  of  opinion  among 
all  the  delegates  of  the  other  countries  and  to  submit  only 
those  propositions  that  have  the  weight  of  general  expecta- 
tion and  clearly  tend  to  promote  the  common  good.” 

John  Bassett  Moore  declared  before  the  Pan  American 
Financial  Congress  in  1915:  “The  idea  that  America  is  not 
simply  a geographical  term,  but  a term  representing  a unity 
of  interests,  has  existed  so  long  that  it  may  be  presumed  that 
it  is  not  a false  term,  but  one  that  carries  us  absolutely  and 
persistently  along  the  right  road.  The  word  ‘America’ 
since  the  beginning  of  the  last  century  during  the  struggle 
of  our  neighbors  for  independence,  represented  the  idea  of 
a community  of  political  interests.  As  Henry  Clay  said : 
‘We  ought  to  be  looked  upon  as  united  in  the  purpose  of 
establishing  a league  of  human  liberties.’  This  idea  has 
advanced  gradually  until  today  we  are  beginning  the  estab- 
lishment of  a community  of  interests  we  have  had  for  many 
years ; we  proceed  now  to  complete  this  circuit,  installing  the 
identity  of  material  interests  upon  the  ample  bases  of  jus- 
tice, contentment  and  fraternity.” 

Such  outstanding  Latin  Americans  as  Baron  de  Rio 
Branco  of  Brazil,  Luis  M.  Drago  of  Buenos  Aires,  Senor 


222 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


Casasus  of  Mexico  have  used  the  same  expressions  of  ap- 
proval of  Pan  Americanism.  In  the  Third  International 
Conference  Senor  Cornejo  of  Peru  said:  “These  con- 
gresses, gentlemen,  are  the  symbol  of  that  solidarity  which 
in  spite  of  the  ephemeral  passions  of  men  constitutes  by  the 
invincible  force  of  circumstances  the  essence  of  our  conti- 
nental system.  These  conferences  were  conceived  by  the 
organizing  intelligence  of  the  statesmen  of  Washington  to 
exalt  the  sentiment  of  American  patriotism.  Liberating  it 
from  national  egotism  which  might  be  justified  in  the  diffi- 
cult moments  of  the  beginnings  of  states,  but  which  would 
today  be  an  obstacle  in  the  development  of  the  American 
idea,  destined  to  demonstrate  that  as  the  democratic  prin- 
ciple has  been  the  combination  of  liberty  and  order  in  the 
constitution  of  the  state,  it  will  combine,  also  the  govern- 
ments of  the  nations  and  fraternity  in  the  relations  of 
peoples.” 

On  the  occasion  of  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  the 
new  Pan  American  Building  in  Washington,  May  n,  1908, 
some  notable  speeches  were  made  concerning  Pan  Ameri- 
canism, among  them  that  of  the  Minister  of  Brazil  to  the 
United  States,  Senor  Nabuco.  He  said: 

“Gentlemen,  there  has  never  been  a parallel  for  the  sight 
which  this  ceremony  presents — that  of  twenty-one  nations 
of  different  languages  building  together  a house  for  their 
common  deliberations.  The  more  imnressive  is  the  scene 
as  these  countries,  with  all  possible  differences  between  them 
in  size  and  population,  have  established  their  union  on  the 
basis  of  the  most  absolute  equality.  Here  the  vote  of  the 
smallest  balances  the  vote  of  the  greatest.  So  many  sov- 
ereign states  would  not  have  been  drawn  so  spontaneously 
and  so  strongly  together,  as  if  by  an  irresistible  force,  if 
there  did  not  exist  throughout  them,  at  the  bottom  or  at  the 
top  of  each  national  conscience,  the  feeling  of  a destiny  com- 
mon to  all  America.  It  seems,  indeed,  that  a decree  of 
Providence  made  the  western  shore  of  the  Atlantic  appear 
late  in  history  as  the  chosen  land  for  a great  renewal  of 
mankind.  From  the  early  days  of  its  colonization  the  senti- 
ment sprung  in  the  hearts  of  all  its  children  that  this  is  really 


PAN  AMERICAN  CONFERENCES 


223 


a new  world.  That  is  the  sentiment  which  unites  us  to- 
gether on  this  auspicious  day.  We  feel  we  are  all  sons  of 
Columbus.” 

The  eternal  negative  is  voiced  in  the  following  words  of 
Jacinto  Lopez  of  Venezuela: 

“A  system  contrary  to  that  of  Europe,  not  of  violation 
but  of  adhesion  and  fidelity  to  principle,  is  the  one  supposed 
to  rule  in  America,  and  from  this  system  there  naturally 
develops  Pan  Americanism  as  an  expression  of  solidarity 
and  fraternity — of  a numerous  family  of  nations  united  in 
sincere  love  of  justice  and  right  and  in  its  just  practices  in 
all  mutual  relationships. 

“But  is  this  true?  Unfortunately,  no.  It  is  as  untrue  in 
America  as  in  Europe.  History  tells  us  that  since  1846, 
that  is  since  the  Mexican  War,  an  open  war  of  conquest,  the 
United  States  has  continued  to  violate  the  principles  of  what 
is  known  as  Pan  Americanism. 

“There  has  not  been,  nor  is  there,  nor  can  there  be  a real 
Pan  Americanism  until  the  United  States  abandons  its  terri- 
torial expansion  and  domination  in  America.  Pan  Ameri- 
canism and  imperialism  are  mutually  exclusive  and  incom- 
patible. The  one  destroys  the  other.  Panama,  the  Bryan- 
Chamorro  treaty  and  its  antecedents,  the  military  occupa- 
tion of  Santo  Domingo  and  its  history,  say  clearly  that  Pan 
Americanism  does  not  exist,  or  exists  as  an  abstract  con- 
ception. Until  the  United  States  respects  other  American 
nations  Pan  Americanism  will  be  simply  the  mask  of  im- 
perialism.” 

In  spite  of  this  sentiment  of  the  Pan  Latinists,  the  fact 
is  that  the  definition  of  Pan  Americanism  that  has  carried 
the  greatest  hope  to  and  won  the  largest  acceptance  in  Latin 
America  has  been  the  one  given  in  his  Message  to  Congress 
in  1916  by  President  Wilson,  when  he  said: 

“The  moral  is,  that  the  states  of  America  are  not  hostile 
rivals  but  cooperating  friends,  and  that  their  growing  sense 
of  community  of  interests,  alike  in  matters  political  and  in 


224 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


matters  economic,  is  likely  to  give  them  a new  significance 
as  factors  in  international  affairs  and  in  the  political  history 
of  the  world.  It  presents  them  as  in  a very  deep  and  true 
sense  a unit  in  world  affairs,  spiritual  partners,  standing  to- 
gether because  thinking  together,  quick  with  common  sym- 
pathies and  common  ideals.  Separated,  they  are  subject  to 
all  the  cross-currents  of  the  confused  politics  of  a world  of 
hostile  rivalries ; united  in  spirit  and  purpose,  they  cannot 
be  disappointed  of  their  peaceful  destiny.  This  is  Pan 
Americanism.  It  has  none  of  the  spirit  of  empire  in  it.  It 
is  the  embodiment,  the  effectual  embodiment  of  the  new 
spirit  of  law  and  independence  and  liberty  and  mutual 
service.” 

As  we  come  to  the  close  of  this  section  of  our  study  in 
which  we  have  reviewed  the  historical  development  of  Amer- 
ican unity  with  all  the  conferences  and  movements  of  both 
North  and  South  America  which  have  striven  toward  such 
solidarity,  the  words  of  B.  Vicuna  Mackenna,  written  a half 
century  ago,  seem  to  be  peculiarly  appropriate : 

“The  work  of  the  Panama  Congress  was  sterile  because 
it  was  the  daughter  of  fear  of  Alexander  of  Russia;  as  was 
also  the  failure  of  the  Congress  of  1848,  due  to  fear  of  the 
Spanish  Queen  Cristina ; that  of  the  Triple  Alliance  of  1856, 
due  to  fear  of  Walker.  All  these  federations  have  been 
simply  between  governments  themselves  and  they  have  been 
based  on  selfishness  and  immediate  need.  There  has  not 
been  up  to  the  present  a proposal  for  a real  American  Fed- 
eration, an  alliance  of  peoples,  fraternity  of  nations,  league 
of  Republics.  The  people  should  raise  their  voices  in  uni- 
son and  send  to  one  another  their  fraternal  embrace.  Love 
will  then  rule,  not  fear.  And  thus  and  only  thus  will  the 
American  Federation  be  a fact.  Then  will  the  destiny  of 
this  our  common  fatherland  be  assured,  the  most  magnifi- 
cent of  the  five  great  continents  which  the  hand  of  the 
Eternal  One  formed  in  the  mold  of  His  Omnipotence  and 
which  a sublime  pilot  called  “The  New  World”  because 
in  its  dimensions  it  was  like  unto  a second  marvelous 
Creation.” 


PAN  AMERICAN  CONFERENCES 


225 


Sources  of  Further  Information  on  Pan  American 
Conferences 

Annals  of  the  American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Sciences, 
Number  124,  Articles  on  Fourth  Pan  American  Congress  by 
Henry  White,  Paul  S.  Reinsch,  Alejandro  Alvarez. 

Barrett,  John:  The  Pan  American  Union. 

Calderon,  F.  Garcia:  Ideas  y Impresiones,  Chapter  on  Pan 
Americanism. 

Gil,  Enrique  : Pan  Americanism  and  International  Policy  of 
Argentina. 

Latane:  The  United  States  and  Latin  America,  Chapters  V and 
VI. 

Lima,  M.  de  Oliveira  : Pan  Americanismo,  Bolivar,  Monroe, 

Roosevelt. 

Lockey,  Jos.  B. : Pan  Americanism,  Its  Beginnings,  Chapter  I. 

Lopez,  Jacinto:  El  Panamericanismo,  La  Reforma  Social,  Sep- 

tember, 1919. 

Moore,  John  Bassett:  Digest  of  International  Law,  American 
Diplomacy. 

Quesada,  Ernesto:  El  Nuevo  Pan  Americanismo. 

Reinsch,  Paul  S. : Public  International  Unions. 

Reports  of  Four  Pan  American  Conferences. 

Report  of  Second  Pan  American  Scientific  Congress. 

Root,  Elihu:  Latin  America  and  the  United  States. 

Shepherd,  William  R. : Hispanic  Nations  of  the  New  World. 

World  Peace  Foundation,  The  New  Pan  Americanism. 


Chapter  VII 

LATIN  AMERICA  AND  THE  WORLD  WAR 

To  say  that  Hispanic  America  along  with  all  other  na- 
tions and  peoples  of  the  world  has  been  profoundly  affected 
by  the  World  War  is  only  to  state  a commonplace.  How- 
ever, since  these  nations  saw  no  fighting  and  sent  no  organ- 
ized military  forces  to  the  front,  there  are  few  who  recog- 
nize how  profound  a change  the  war  really  brought  to  them. 
And  it  is  doubtful  if  anywhere  in  the  world  the  good  results 
were  so  preponderant  over  the  evil  as  here.  These  nations, 
said  by  Ugarte  a few  years  ago  to  be  on  “the  margin  of  in- 
ternational life,”  have  gained  by  the  war  a definite  place  at 
the  council  table  of  the  nations.  The  world  at  large  has  a 
new  appreciation  of  them,  both  for  what  they  are  and  what 
they  may  become.  With  a new  choice  of  suitors  from  Eu- 
rope, Asia  and  North  America,  and  an  opportunity  to  play 
the  one  against  the  other,  with  a fresh  recognition  of  their 
own  powers  and  their  duty  to  develop  these,  with  a new 
appreciation  of  the  seriousness  of  right  decisions  when  fac- 
ing moral  and  spiritual  problems  in  international  as  well  as 
national  life,  with  a revelation  of  their  own  impotency  in 
a world  crisis  and  of  the  weakness  of  their  educational  and 
social  systems — Latin  American  nations  have  indeed  en- 
tered a new  epoch.  If  they  do  not  overstep  themselves  in 
playing  international  politics  but  modestly  build  more  firmly 
their  present  advantages  into  permanent  friendships,  and 
faithfully  devote  themselves  to  the  development  of  their 
remarkable  economic  and  spiritual  resources,  a few  decades 
will  see  changes  that  will  astound  and  delight  the  world. 
This  conviction  has  increasingly  grown  on  the  author  as  he 
has  visited  seventeen  out  of  the  twenty  southern  republics 
since  the  United  States  entered  the  war. 

226 


LATIN  AMERICA  AND  THE  WORLD  WAR  227 


I.  ECONOMIC  CHANGES 

The  first  changes  to  be  felt  in  Latin  America  consequent 
upon  the  war  were  economic.  South  America  had  depended 
chiefly  upon  European  capital  for  its  development.  England 
had  invested  in  Argentina  alone  some  five  hundred  million 
pounds  sterling.  Railroads,  port  works,  street  railways, 
mines,  telephones  and  extensive  land  projects  were  owned 
by  Europeans.  Latin  America  had  been  selling  her  enor- 
mous resources  to  the  foreigner  and  living  in  ease  on  the 
proceeds,  with  no  thought  that  in  this  modern  world  of 
science  and  commerce  and  wealth  such  conditions  could  ever 
change.  If  a nation  desired  a new  loan  for  some  pet  project 
or  for  the  reward  of  a political  party,  a concession  to  a for- 
eigner would  bring  it.  If  the  rich  estanciero  desired  a new 
palace,  the  foreigner  was  ready  with  the  money  in  exchange 
for  some  of  his  valuable  land.  If  native  labor  was  scarce 
or  indolent,  immigrants  from  Spain  and  Italy  would  come  to 
reap  the  crops  and  build  public  works. 

When  the  European  war  began  all  of  this  order  of  things, 
which  had  come  to  seem  most  natural,  was  suddenly  changed. 
Countries  which  were  not  only  accustomed  to  borrow  extra 
funds  but  to  receive  money  for  their  raw  materials  from 
the  foreigner,  found  both  processes  stopped  because  the 
European  kept  both  his  capital  and  his  ships  at  home.  For 
the  same  reasons  that  made  foreign  money  unavailable,  for- 
eign goods  and  foreign  labor  were  unobtainable. 

In  an  endeavor  to  extricate  herself  from  this  trying  sit- 
uation Latin  America  did  two  things  which  are  making  a 
profound  and  permanent  change  in  her  life.  The  first  was 
to  turn  to  the  United  States  for  aid.  The  American  Gov- 
ernment, answering  the  appeal,  called  the  first  Pan  Ameri- 
can Financial  Conference,  which  met  in  Washington  in 
May,  1915.  The  Ministers  of  Finance  and  prominent  bank- 
ers of  practically  every  one  of  the  twenty  southern  coun- 
tries, as  well  as  the  leading  financiers  of  the  United  States, 
attended  the  conference.  By  it  was  established  the  Inter- 
national High  Commission,  a composite  body  with  official 
representatives  from  each  American  republic. 

The  program  of  the  Commission,  as  laid  down,  covered 


228 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


a wide  but  well-considered  range,  embracing : ( i ) The  estab- 
lishment of  a gold  standard  of  value;  (2)  uniform  customs 
regulations;  (3)  the  international  protection  of  trade- 
marks, copyrights  and  patents;  (4)  the  establishment  of  a 
uniform  low  rate  of  postage  and  the  improvement  of  the 
money  order  and  parcels  post  facilities  between  the  coun- 
tries of  the  Americas;  and  (5)  the  extension  of  the  prin- 
ciple of  arbitration  to  include  the  adjustment  of  commercial 
disputes. 

In  addition  to  these  subjects  the  International  High  Com- 
mission, at  a later  meeting  in  Buenos  Aires,  dealt  with  the 
extension  of  banking  facilities  and  credits,  international 
agreements  for  uniform  labor  legislation,  and  improved  tele- 
graph and  transportation  facilities  between  the  American 
republics,  including  the  use  of  wireless  telegraphy  for  com- 
mercial purposes.  The  work  of  this  Commission  and  other 
influences  have  had  remarkable  results  in  developing  Inter- 
American  commercial  relations. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  war  there  was  not  one  North 
American  bank  operating  in  South  America  and  not  a North 
American  steamship  line  maintaining  passenger  service  be- 
tween the  two  continents.  At  the  beginning  of  1921  there 
were  some  fifty  North  American  branch  banks  in  South 
America,  besides  an  equal  number  in  the  Caribbean  section, 
a district  which  is  now  doing  two  billion  dollars’  worth  of 
foreign  commerce  annually.  The  National  City  Bank  of 
New  York  controls  some  forty-two  of  these  banks  and  the 
Mercantile  Bank  of  the  Americas  about  twenty-five.  The 
American  dollar  is  everywhere  substituting  the  English 
pound,  and  a number  of  governments  have  recently  made 
the  dollar  legal  tender,  and  in  other  countries  it  freely 
circulates,  so  that  a visitor  need  not  bother  with  exchange  in 
Cuba,  Santo  Domingo,  Haiti,  Guatemala,  Honduras, 
El  Salvador,  Nicaragua  and  Panama.  In  the  prov- 
inces of  Lima  and  Callao,  Peru,  it  was  decreed  that  the  ad- 
ministrators of  public  revenues  should  receive  as  payments 
only  checks  lithographed  in  the  United  States.  The  Depart- 
ment of  Cauca,  Colombia,  negotiated  a loan  of  1,000,000 
pesos  gold  with  a New  York  firm  recently.  Within 
the  past  half-dozen  months  the  Bolivian  Government  has 


LATIN  AMERICA  AND  THE  WORLD  WAR  229 


contracted  for  a loan  of  io  million  dollars  with  a New  York 
investment  house.  The  State  of  Santa  Catharina,  Brazil,  has 
arranged  a loan  of  5 million  dollars  in  the  United  States  for 
the  construction  of  railways  and  for  public  utilities.  Among 
the  other  loans  that  are  being  increasingly  arranged  in  North 
America  the  most  important  one  recently  is  that  placed  by 
Chile  in  February  of  1921  for  20  million  dollars. 

Half  a dozen  years  ago,  out  of  a thousand  vessels  enter- 
ing Latin  American  ports,  scarcely  any  flew  the  American 
flag.  In  1913,  according  to  the  United  States  Bureau  of 
Foreign  and  Domestic  Commerce,  “not  a single  American 
vessel  arrived  at  Buenos  Aires.  In  1914  there  were  6;  in 
1915,73;  in  i9i6,  140;  and  in  1917,  151  ” In  1919,  335 
American  vessels  carrying  822,609  tons  arrived  in  the  Ar- 
gentine. In  the  first  four  months  of  1920  American  ton- 
nage at  Buenos  Aires  exceeded  by  3 per  cent,  the  total  Amer- 
ican tonnage  at  that  port  for  the  whole  year  1919,  in  which 
year  it  stood  second  to  British  tonnage  only.  In  1914,  the 
limit  reached  by  American  tonnage  for  the  foreign  trade 
was  1,076,000  gross  tons;  in  March,  1920,  it  was  9 million 
tons,  or  more  than  the  total  tonnage  of  all  classes  for  1916; 
and  the  entire  tonnage  is,  in  1921,  approximately  16  million 
tons.  Though  working  under  stupendous  pressure,  British 
shipping,  always  immeasurably  superior  to  other  shipping, 
can  now  barely  keep  ahead  of  American  production.  This, 
too,  like  the  banking  development,  is  an  entirely  new  eco- 
nomic fact,  and  is  bound  to  modify  the  current  of  foreign 
relations  in  Latin  America.  What  the  ultimate  outcome 
will  be,  since  Great  Britain,  the  United  States,  and  Japan 
are  all  in  a frenzy  of  ship-building  and  have  their  eyes  on 
the  Latin  American  trade,  probably  nobody  can  say  today. 

The  total  value  of  commerce  between  Latin  America  and 
the  United  States  has  shown  an  enormous  increase  since  the 
beginning  of  the  war.  In  1913  that  commerce  amounted 
to  743  million  dollars.  In  1919  it  had  grown  to  practically 
3 billion  dollars.  In  1918  our  trade  with  the  West  Indies 
amounted  to  four  times  what  we  did  with  Great  Britain  in 
1913,  and  Argentina’s  business  with  us  was  five  times  as 
much  as  we  did  with  France  in  1913.  In  1919,  in  spite  of 
disturbed  conditions  in  Mexico,  we  sold  her  more  farming 


230 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


implements  than  we  did  France,  at  that  period  supposed  to 
be  in  greatest  need  of  such  material.  Our  commerce  with 
Uruguay  grew  from  51  million  dollars  in  1918  to  81  million 
in  1919,  or  58  per  cent. ; our  trade  with  Colombia  reached 
the  record  value  of  67  million  dollars,  showing  a gain  of  90 
per  cent,  over  the  1918  trade;  imports  from  Venezuela  in 
1919  increased  170  per  cent,  over  the  1918  figure,  and  ex- 
ports to  that  country  showed  an  equal  gain. 

DEVELOPMENT  OF  HER  OWN  RESOURCES 

Besides  Latin  America’s  endeavor  to  arrange  for  new 
credits  and  supplies  in  the  United  States,  she  did  a second 
thing  which  is  destined  to  have  a very  large  effect  on  all 
her  life.  She  began  to  make  a most  determined  effort  to 
develop  her  own  resources  and  to  manufacture  her  own 
goods. 

This  movement  was  most  notable  in  Brazil,  the  one  big 
country  in  South  America  that  actually  declared  war.  The 
federal  government  took  up  systematically  the  whole  ques- 
tion of  increasing  agricultural  products  and  cattle  raising 
and  the  manufacturing  of  goods  formerly  imported.  Pre- 
viously her  export  had  been  largely  coffee,  with  the  pro- 
ceeds of  which  she  had  bought  many  staples  which  could 
have  been  easily  raised  at  home.  In  the  new  effort  toward 
development,  a North  American  missionary  was  called  upon 
to  help  in  planning  a corn  exhibit  and  other  methods  of  in- 
creasing production  like  those  used  in  the  United  States, 
and  several  thousand  Japanese  colonists  were  brought  in  to 
teach  the  people  to  grow  rice  cheaply.  The  methods  of  pro- 
ducing rubber  began  to  be  reformed.  The  coal  mines  in 
the  south  were  again  opened.  An  official  campaign  around 
the  world  was  initiated  to  promote  the  sale  of  Brazilian 
tea,  mate.  Manufacturing  has  grown  to  an  astounding  ex- 
tent. Brazil  is  now  almost  entirely  shod  with  nationally 
made  shoes.  The  importation  of  hats  in  Sao  Paulo  has 
practically  ceased  because  of  the  nineteen  hat  factories  now 
in  that  city.  Native  textile  products  are  rapidly  replacing 
the  foreign  makes.  Brazil’s  shipping  industry  has  profited 
enormously  by  the  taking  over  of  nearly  fifty  interned  Ger- 


LATIN  AMERICA  AND  THE  WORLD  WAR  231 


man  ships,  with  which  it  is  planned  to  establish  lines  be- 
tween Brazil  and  many  other  countries,  including  Chile  and 
China. 

The  demand  in  the  warring  nations  for  beef  and  wheat, 
and  the  high  prices  paid,  caused  a great  increase  in  their 
production.  Argentina  has  now  become  the  leader  of  the 
world  in  the  exportation  of  beef,  surpassing  the  United 
States  and  Australia.  She  has  also  come  to  occupy  first 
place  in  the  export  of  wool  and  third  place  in  the  export  of 
wheat.  She  has  begun  the  use  of  native  petroleum  and  fire- 
wood, and  to  search  for  her  own  coal  deposits  and  exploit 
her  own  forests  since  denied  these  necessities  by  Europe. 
Argentina’s  total  foreign  commerce  for  1920  approximated 
the  remarkable  figure  of  2 billion  American  dollars.  Ar- 
gentina’s trade  balance  in  her  favor  for  1919  was  375  million 
dollars.  Her  per  capita  foreign  business  amounts  to  more 
than  $200  per  capita,  whereas  that  of  the  United  States  is 
estimated  at  $86.  Chile  has  learned  her  lesson  as  did  Brazil, 
not  to  depend  entirely  on  one  product  for  her  national  com- 
mercial existence.  Heretofore  about  85  per  cent,  of  her 
national  revenue  had  been  derived  from  an  export  tax  on 
nitrate,  but  during  the  war  taxation  was  distributed  in  a 
more  scientific  way,  including  a land  tax  which  Chile  had 
never  had  before. 

As  one  Chilean  has  said,  “The  war  has  brought  us  a cer- 
tain prosperity  and  also  something  that  is  worth  more  than 
prosperity — common  sense.”  Chile  had  already  encour- 
aged manufacturing  to  some  extent,  there  being  some  8,000 
factories  employing  90,000  persons  in  1914.  This  number 
has  been  greatly  augmented  since  that  time.  Chile  now  gets 
practically  all  of  her  coal  from  her  own  mines. 

Peru  has  also  been  led  to  stimulate  greatly  her  production 
of  sugar  and  cotton,  the  high  price  of  these  articles  during 
the  war  having  brought  producers  of  these  products  great 
prosperity.  Her  inability  to  get  needed  food  supplies  and 
manufactured  goods  has  caused  this  country  also  to  make 
a splendid  endeavor  to  supply  her  own  needs. 

The  smaller  countries  in  the  Caribbean  have  been  less 
able  to  develop  their  own  resources  and  as  a rule  have  greatly 
suffered  economically.  Cuba  is  a marked  exception.  That 


232 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


country’s  foreign  commerce  has  been  multiplied  by  three 
during  the  war  on  account  of  her  giving  herself  almost  en- 
tirely, backed  by  American  capital,  to  the  production  of 
sugar.  Cuba  now  produces  about  one-quarter  of  the  world’s 
supply  of  sugar.  Her  foreign  commerce  in  1918  amounted 
to  718  million  dollars  and  in  1920  to  about  one  billion  dol- 
lars. Her  per  capita  wealth  is  now  more  than  that  of  the 
United  States,  and  her  foreign  commerce  about  equal  to 
that  of  China. 

“The  imagination  is  almost  overpowered  in  attempting 
to  comprehend  the  vast  proportions  of  the  sugar  industry 
of  the  island  as  it  exists  this  year. 

“The  cane  produced  is  of  such  tremendous  volume  that 
a procession  of  bull  teams,  four  abreast,  reaching  around 
the  earth,  would  be  required  to  move  it.  The  crop  would 
suffice  to  build  a solid  wall  around  the  entire  2,000  miles 
of  the  island’s  coast  line  as  high  as  an  ordinary  dwelling 
house  and  thick  enough  for  a file  of  four  men  to  walk 
abreast  on  it. 

“The  sugar  extracted  from  this  cane  would  load  a fleet 
of  steamers  reaching  from  Havana  to  New  York,  with  a 
ship  for  every  mile  of  the  1,200  that  stretch  between  the 
two  ports.  The  great  pyramid  of  Cheops,  before  whose 
awe-inspiring  proportions  millions  of  people  have  stood  and 
gazed  in  open-mouthed  amazement,  remains,  after  5,000 
years,  unrivaled  as  a monumental  pile ; but  Cuba’s  sugar 
output  this  year  would  make  two  pyramids,  each  outbasing 
and  overtopping  Cheops. 

“The  wealth  the  outgoing  sugar  crop  brings  in  is  not 
less  remarkable  in  its  proportions.  Four  hundred  dollars 
out  of  a single  crop  for  every  human  being  who  lives  on  the 
island — a sum  almost  as  great  as  the  per  capita  wealth  pro- 
duced by  all  the  farms,  all  the  factories  and  all  the  mines 
of  the  United  States! 

“What  wonder,  then,  that  Cuba  today  is  a land  of  gold 
and  gems,  richer  than  Midas  ever  was,  converting  Croesus, 
by  contrast,  into  a beggar!”  1 

All  this  prosperity  means  that  Hispanic  America  is  not 

1 Of  course  Cuba  and  all  Latin  America  have  been  deeply  affected  by  the  post 
war  financial  crisis.  But  this  is  no  doubt  only  temporary. 


LATIN  AMERICA  AND  THE  WORLD  WAR  233 


only  a market  for  our  manufactured  goods,  but  also  a great 
source  of  energy  and  economic  strength  in  the  rehabilitation 
of  the  world.  It  is  sometimes  said  that  the  only  source  of 
credit  for  the  current  needs  of  Europe  is  in  North  America. 
The  United  States  may  be  the  only  place  where  very  large 
issues  of  bonds  could  be  floated,  but  international  banking 
and  mercantile  organization  is  even  now  drawing  upon  the 
surplus  credit-strength  of  the  rich  overseas  parts  of  the 
world.  The  basic  sources  of  credit  in  South  America  are 
furnishing  now  the  means  of  supplying  Europe  on  a basis 
of  deferred  payment.  Moreover,  the  new  financial  position 
of  South  America  is  being  consolidated  in  a movement  of 
those  republics  whose  money  has  been  on  a fluctuating  basis 
to  put  their  currency  and  banking  systems  upon  a sound  and 
stable  footing,  backed  by  gold.  Within  five  years  all  South 
America  south  of  the  equator  will  be  on  the  “gold  basis.” 

The  premier  industries  of  South  America  in  all  probabil- 
ity will  always  be  the  former  ones,  that  produced  vast  quan- 
tities of  raw  materials.  Meat,  wool,  wheat,  linseed,  hides, 
tanning  extract,  coffee,  cocoa,  rubber,  copper,  tin,  nitrate, 
will  always  be  the  great  “money  makers”  and  the  South 
American  contribution  to  the  world’s  manufacturing.  Lum- 
ber and  beautiful  woods  are  to  be  added  and  there  may  come 
a great  development  of  cotton  production.  South  America 
has  all  along  furnished  some  good  cotton  and  sugar.  To 
these  products,  moving  in  heavy  volume,  there  is  now  being 
added  a very  respectable  total  of  minor  ones,  such  as  rice, 
beans,  canned  vegetables  and  fruits,  butter  and  cheese,  and 
wines.  There  is  some  prospect  of  South  America  develop- 
ing a tanning  industry  that  may  eventually  export  leather 
in  place  of  hides.  The  South  American  growth  of  manu- 
facturing is  important,  but  it  is  only  complementary  to  the 
premier  industries  of  the  “camps”  and  the  forests. 

It  is  therefore  of  great  significance  that  the  agricultural 
industries  and  the  country  life  of  Brazil,  Uruguay,  and  Ar- 
gentina are  waking  up  to  something  absolutely  new  to  them. 
A progressive  element  among  the  farmers  is  absolutely 
hungry  for  new  ideas  of  “scientific”  production. 

The  third  change  in  economic  conditions  during  the  war 
has  been  the  development  of  the  labor  movement.  Labor  in 


234  PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 

these  countries  in  the  past  has  had  little  opportunity  to  as- 
sert itself.  The  formation  of  the  Pan  American  Federation 
of  Labor  in  1918,  which  is  fostered  by  the  American  Fed- 
eration of  Labor,  has  served  to  organize  labor  in  several 
Latin  American  countries.  Three  Pan  American  confer- 
ences on  labor  have  been  held,  resulting  in  an  understanding 
between  workmen  of  different  countries  and  helping  them 
to  study  more  closely  the  economic,  social  and  political  im- 
provements of  the  laboring  classes. 

The  objects  of  the  Pan  American  Federation  of  Labor, 
organized  at  the  first  of  these  conferences,  are  stated  as 
follows : 


First.  The  establishment  of  better  conditions  for  the 
working  people  who  emigrate  from  one  country  to  another. 

Second.  The  establishment  of  a better  understanding  and 
relationship  between  the  peoples  of  the  Pan  American  Re- 
publics. 

Third.  To  utilize  every  lawful  and  honorable  means  for 
the  protection  and  promotion  of  the  rights,  the  interests, 
and  the  welfare  of  the  peoples  of  the  Pan  American 
Republics. 

Fourth.  To  utilize  every  lawful  and  honorable  means  for 
the  purpose  of  cultivating  the  most  favorable  and  friendly 
relations  between  the  labor  movements  and  peoples  of  the 
Pan  American  Republics. 


At  the  Second  Pan  American  Congress  it  was  brought  out 
that  the  offices  of  the  federation  had  acted  as  an  informa- 
tion bureau  for  the  labor  movements  of  the  Pan  American 
Republics,  and  had  collected  considerable  data  concerning 
labor  conditions  in  the  Western  Hemisphere,  especially  in 
connection  with  the  state  of  organization  of  the  workers. 

It  was  found  that  the  labor  movement  had  been  organized 
into  a national  federation  or  body,  outside  of  the  United 
States  and  Mexico,  in  Argentina,  Paraguay,  Uruguay, 
Guatemala,  Salvador,  Chile,  Peru,  and  the  Dominican  Re- 
public. In  those  countries  not  mentioned  there  are  quite  a 


LATIN  AMERICA  AND  THE  WORLD  WAR  235 


number  of  labor  unions,  but  they  have  not  formed  into  a 
national  organization. 

In  the  three  conventions  of  the  Pan  American  Federa- 
tion and  in  the  work  of  ad  interim  committees  delicate  in- 
ternational questions  have  been  courageously  faced.  As  the 
then  secretary  of  the  Federation,  Senor  Luis  Marones,  said: 
“It  is  time  the  workers  of  the  world  found  a way  to  remedy 
the  mistakes  of  government.  It  is  their  duty  to  deal  with 
international  differences,  when  governments  do  not  care  to 
settle  them,  and  try  to  prevent  conflicts  among  workers.” 
Mr.  Samuel  Gompers  in  his  second  inaugural  address  said : 
“Anything  that  makes  for  international  unity  and  the  pre- 
vention of  international  strife  and  war  is  the  proper  work 
of  the  labor  unions  of  the  world.” 

The  Federation  has  already,  acting  on  this  principle, 
taken  up  three  problems  that  affect  American  peace.  The 
first  was  that  of  relations  between  Mexico  and  the  United 
States.  The  inside  story  of  the  influence  of  labor  in  pre- 
venting an  armed  conflict  between  the  two  countries  would 
reveal  an  important  contribution  in  this  regard.  At  the 
Second  Annual  Convention,  held  in  New  York,  July,  1919, 
a resolution  was  adopted  under  which  the  Federation  prom- 
ised to  use  its  good  offices  toward  effecting  a settlement  of 
the  boundary  dispute  between  Chile  and  Peru.  Delegates 
said  it  was  the  duty  of  labor  to  end  this  controversy  of 
many  years’  standing,  as  there  was  danger  of  war  in  which 
the  workers  would  be  the  chief  sufferers.  Objection  was 
made  by  the  delegates  from  Ecuador  that  the  resolution  was 
of  a political  character,  but  Mr.  Gompers  said  that  if  the 
workers  of  Germany  and  Austria  had  had  the  courage  and 
intelligence  to  set  themselves  against  the  action  of  their 
governments  the  war  of  the  past  five  years  would  not  have 
occurred. 

The  most  instructive  work  done  toward  establishing  right 
relations  between  the  United  States  and  Santo  Domingo  is 
being  carried  out  by  this  Federation.  The  Dominican  dele- 
gates to  the  first  conference  presented  complaints  concern- 
ing some  injustices  to  labor  practiced  by  the  American 
forces  in  occupation.  This  led  to  President  Gompers  writ- 
ing to  President  Wilson,  setting  forth  at  length  the  whole 


236 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


question  of  American  occupation.  Later  the  American  Fed- 
eration of  Labor  appointed  a commission,  which  in  January 
of  1920  visited  Santo  Domingo  and  made  a careful  study  of 
the  labor  conditions  and  the  question  of  the  military  occu- 
pation. This  commission  submitted  thirty-four  proposals 
to  the  government  for  the  betterment  of  the  conditions  of 
the  people,  a number  of  which  were  immediately  carried  out 
by  the  officials.  No  doubt  this  work  has  had  much  to  do 
with  bringing  about  of  the  recent  announcement  of  the 
United  States  Government  that  the  marines  are  soon  to  be 
withdrawn  from  the  Dominican  Republic. 

The  Third  Convention  of  the  Federation,  which  was  held 
in  Mexico  City  in  January,  1921,  witnessed  a very  severe 
test  of  the  organization  when  radicals  and  extreme  nation- 
alists made  a strenuous  effort  to  disrupt  the  organization. 
But  the  saner  element  prevailed,  and  passed  the  following 
resolution,  which  sums  up  the  purposes  of  the  Federation : 

“Whereas,  it  is  the  aim  and  purpose  of  the  Pan  American 
Federation  to  use  every  proper  and  legitimate  means  to 
advance  the  interests  of  the  working  people ; be  it 

“Resolved,  That  the  following  is  expressive  of  our  de- 
sires and  purposes  and  sets  forth  principles  which  we  con- 
sider fundamental : 

“Political  freedom,  the  right  of  the  workers  to  have  a 
voice  and  vote  equal  to  that  of  every  other  citizen  is  the  first 
practical  step  toward  those  individual  rights  that  are  essen- 
tialfto  liberty.  But  political  liberty,  working  through  legis- 
lative, executive  and  judicial  departments  of  the  organized 
government  of  a free  people  does  not,  and  should  not  be 
permitted  to  enter  into  that  personal  (non-governmental) 
relationship  between  wage-earner  and  employer  through 
which  the  terms  of  employment  are  determined  by  the  rec- 
ognition of  equality  of  rights,  and  the  joint  agreement  of 
both  parties. 

“The  trades  union  movement  holds  that  the  principle  of 
self-government  by  free  peoples  and  the  principle  that  in 
industry  and  commerce  the  wage-earners  through  their  or- 
ganization should  freely  and  fully  participate  in  determining 
the  terms  of  employment,  are  identical.  The  principle  that 


LATIN  AMERICA  AND  THE  WORLD  WAR  237 


governments  should  only  exist  with  the  consent  of  the  gov- 
erned is  identical  with  the  principle  that  the  terms  of  em- 
ployment, conditions  of  labor  and  the  rules  and  regulations 
of  employment  should  only  exist  with  the  consent  of  the 
employed. 

“We  regard  it  as  essential  to  the  success  of  our  movement 
that  there  be  a clear  and  definite  statement  as  to  the  attitude 
of  this  federation  toward  questions  subject  to  controversy 
and  honest  difference,  not  only  because  of  our  desire  to  pro- 
mote understanding  among  those  now  affiliated  to  the  Fed- 
eration, but  so  that  those  not  yet  affiliated  may  the  more 
readily  understand  the  character  of  our  Federation  and  the 
more  quickly  assume  their  proper  responsibilities  by  seeking 
affiliation. 

“We,  the  delegates  assembled  in  this  congress,  regard  it  as 
essential  that  it  be  established  as  a foundation  principle  that 
progress  can  be  achieved  only  through  agreement.  The  aim 
of  our  federation  must  be  to  find  those  programs,  principles 
and  tactics  upon  which  agreement  can  be  had.  This  feder- 
ation has  a right  to  life  only  because  it  is  of  service  to  the 
workers  and  there  is  no  service  in  disunity  and  disharmony. 
Those  matters  regarded  as  essential  by  some,  but  not  by  all, 
should  be  held  in  abeyance  until  the  processes  of  education, 
understanding  and  experience  develop  agreement  among  all. 
Any  effort  to  force  upon  minorities  principles  or  tactics  to 
which  they  cannot  give  consent,  must,  in  an  international 
Federation  such  as  this,  lead  to  destruction.  In  like  manner 
any  effort  of  minorities,  through  strategy  or  otherwise,  to 
thrust  their  decisions  upon  majorities  must  be  equally  fatal. 

“We  call  the  attention  of  all  workers  to  the  vital  need  of 
education  as  a prime  requisite  of  intelligent  progress.  We 
set  it  down  as  a fundamental  fact  that  a high  state  of  demo- 
cratic civilization  and  enlightenment  cannot  be  founded  upon 
ignorance.  The  more  highly  our  civilization  is  developed, 
the  more  complete  must  be  the  degree  of  education,  enlight- 
enment and  understanding  of  the  workers  if  democracy  is 
to  be  preserved  and  its  opportunities  kept  open  to  those  who 
do  the  useful  work  of  all  nations. 

“We  urge  upon  all  affiliated  organizations,  and  upon  labor 
movements  everywhere,  the  prime  necessity  of  encouraging 


238 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


education,  of  insisting  upon  education  and  of  securing  the 
just  right  to  participation  in  the  development  and  adminis- 
tration of  education. 

“Our  movement  is  a movement  of  protest  against  wrong 
and  injustice  and  a movement  of  constructive  progress.  We 
cannot  develop  beyond  the  understanding  of  the  working 
people  everywhere.  Without  an  intelligent  and  understand- 
ing labor  movement,  capable  of  receiving  and  transmitting 
thought  and  capable  of  a proper  appraisal  of  facts,  condi- 
tions and  theories,  there  can  be  only  chaos  or  tyranny.  Proper 
education  is  a first  requisite  of  democratic  constructive 
progress. 

“One  of  the  primary  conditions  essential  to  the  success 
of  our  movement  in  our  respective  countries  as  well  as  that 
of  the  Pan  American  Federation  of  Labor  is  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  yet  unorganized  wage  workers,  whether  skilled 
or  unskilled,  into  unions  of  their  trades,  callings  or  indus- 
tries and  the  unity  of  these  organizations  for  the  cultivation 
of  the  spirit  and  action  of  fraternity  and  solidarity. 

“We  regard  as  essential  the  extension  of  democracy  in  in- 
dustry and  we  declare  our  unalterable  opposition  to  inter- 
ference in  the  processes  of  industry  by  forces  outside  of  the 
industrial  field  and  therefore  incompetent  to  deal  with  its 
problems.  We  urge  upon  the  labor  movement  everywhere 
the  extension  of  the  practice  of  negotiation  between  the  em- 
ployers and  the  workers  and  the  making  of  trade  agreements. 
We  hold  this  to  be  the  first  great  step  in  the  development 
of  democracy  in  industry  and  we  hold  that  in  no  other  way 
can  such  democracy  be  developed.  There  is  no  democracy 
while  the  workers  are  inarticulate  and  the  workers  can  have 
no  effective  voice  except  through  organization  in  the  in- 
dustrial field.” 

Labor  disturbances  have  occurred  all  over  Latin  America 
during  the  last  two  years.  Just  how  far  these  have  been 
due  to  the  efforts  of  foreign  agitators  and  how  much  to 
the  growing  spirit  of  independence  among  the  workers 
themselves,  it  is  difficult  to  say. 

The  most  serious  strike  took  place  in  Buenos  Aires  dur- 
ing 1919.  That  city  of  a million  and  a half  people  has  suf- 


LATIN  AMERICA  AND  THE  WORLD  WAR  239 


fered  probably  more  than  any  other  since  the  close  of  the 
war  by  the  continuous  strikes  which  blocked  all  ocean  traf- 
fic, closed  all  the  great  daily"  papers  for  two  weeks  and 
brought  on  what  was  practically  a political  revolution.  Ex- 
tensive labor  troubles  were  also  registered  in  Brazil,  espe- 
cially around  Sao  Paulo.  Strikes  in  the  mines  and  ports 
of  Peru  served  to  bring  about  serious  conditions  in  that 
country.  Strikes  in  Havana,  Cuba,  and  in  Oriziba,  Mexico, 
among  the  tobacco  workers  in  Porto  Rico,  the  stevedores  in 
Chile,  and  others  of  more  or  less  importance,  have  served  to 
bring  to  the  front  the  tense  situation  of  the  laborers  in  all 
these  countries. 

Socialistic  and  labor  representatives  are  found  exercis- 
ing large  influence  at  the  present  time  in  the  national  con- 
gresses of  Chile,  Argentina,  Uruguay,  Brazil,  Porto  Rico, 
Mexico  and  Cuba.  Several  governments  have  recently  de- 
ported large  numbers  of  aliens  who  have  taken  part  in  labor 
disturbances,  Argentina  during  July,  1919,  having  deported 
about  900  on  a special  ship  chartered  for  that  purpose. 
Since  the  war  has  brought  to  the  fore  the  questions  of 
socialism  and  unionism,  they  promise  to  be  among  the  most 
vexing  of  all  the  problems  facing  these  countries  for  the 
next  few  years. 

FIGHT  FOR  COMMERCIAL  AND  CULTURAL  SUPREMACY  BY 
OTHER  WORLD  POWERS 

Finally,  in  discussing  economic  changes  in  Latin  America 
during  the  war  there  must  be  mentioned  the  attention  com- 
manded from  the  rest  of  the  world  by  these  nations  because 
of  their  enormous  resources.  Careful  students  are  now  re- 
garding this  as  the  most  promising  field  for  furnishing  the 
three  great  demands  of  the  world  today:  food,  room  for 
overcrowded  populations,  and  a market  for  surplus  goods 
and  capital.  Beginning  at  the  Rio  Grande  and  stretching 
down  through  Mexico,  Central  America  and  through  the 
untold  riches  of  South  America  to  the  Straits  of  Magellan, 
is  the  largest  area  of  undeveloped  fertile  land  in  the  world. 
Capitalists,  manufacturers,  steamship  directors,  food  econo- 
mists and  political  leaders  in  North  America,  Europe  and 


240 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


even  Japan,  are  intently  fixing  their  attention  on  these  fal- 
low lands.  A German  observer  has  lately  described  Latin 
America  as  the  “Fair  Helen”  of  the  business  world.  Her 
charms  are  admired  and  her  favors  sought  by  all  industrial 
nations. 

It  is  interesting  to  glance  at  what  a few  nations  are  doing 
to  woo  this  fair  maiden.  The  French,  who  have  always 
had  a profound  influence  on  the  Latin  American  republics, 
seemingly  without  any  particular  effort  on  their  part,  have 
recently  organized  a French-American  Committee  which  is 
to  direct  a movement  to  unite  France  and  Latin  America; 
to  develop  economic,  intellectual  and  artistic  relations; 
to  attract  students  and  travelers  to  France,  and  to  encourage 
every  means  of  bringing  these  countries  together.  A good 
deal  is  being  said  about  the  necessity  of  the  Latin  races 
uniting.  All  of  this  has  its  advantages  in  the  development 
of  commercial  relations.  A Latin  American  Week  has  re- 
cently been  celebrated  in  France.  The  visits  of  such  men 
as  Clemenceau  to  Latin  America  have  been  a strong  means 
of  cultivating  these  relations  during  the  past,  and  it  is  pro- 
posed that  these  visits  shall  be  continued  on  a much  larger 
scale. 

An  article  by  George  Lafon,  recently  appearing  in  the 
Revue  Minerva,  says : “One  of  the  inevitable  consequences 
of  the  European  War  will  be  a most  terrible  competition  in 
the  markets  of  Latin  America.  This  contest  will  not  be 
limited  to  commerce  but  will  extend  itself  to  all  of  the  fields 
of  human  activities.  There  will  be  a political,  financial,  in- 
dustrial and  intellectual  contest.  It  is  necessary  to  prepare 
for  it.  Only  a few  years  ago  South  America  was  of  little 
importance  in  the  world : immense  territory  and  small  popu- 
lation; weak  nations  agitated  by  internal  disorders;  a civi- 
lization in  evolution  but  far  removed  from  us.  Today,  on 
the  other  hand,  Argentina,  Brazil,  Chile,  Uruguay  and  other 
nationalities  have  a homogeneous  people,  numerous  popula- 
tion and  stable  and  strong  government.  The  world  impor- 
tance of  these  young  American  republics  consists  in  their 
agricultural  and  mineral  wealth,  which  has  scarcely  been 
touched. 


LATIN  AMERICA  AND  THE  WORLD  WAR  241 


“There  are  two  competitors,  Europe  and  the  United 
States.  The  United  States  displays  the  Monroe  Doctrine 
to  exclude,  if  possible,  from  the  southern  markets  European 
capital  and  production.  That  political  doctrine  includes  also 
an  economic  domination.  But  the  South  prefers  her  liberty 
to  a purely  geographical  union.  Her  points  of  contact  with 
North  America  are  few;  neither  language  nor  race,  nor  re- 
ligion, nor  customs  are  included.  She  will  gain  little  if  she 
enters  into  the  orbit  of  the  United  States,  but  on  the  con- 
trary will  lose  much. 

“The  most  active  elements  in  South  America  today  are 
European  emigrants  that  have  maintained  close  relationships 
with  their  fatherland,  and  the  sons  and  descendants  of  emi- 
grants who  feel  and  call  themselves  ‘sons  of  the  country’ 
but  who  do  not  wish  to  deny  that  they  are  Latins : latinity  is 
not  a vague  and  literary  phrase,  it  is  a real  thing  in  many 
economic  and  political  problems.  The  Latin  republics  of 
America  feel  their  affinity  of  race  for  the  Latins  of  Europe. 
We  must  prepare  promptly  an  army  of  young  men  for  this 
new  struggle,  an  army  that  does  not  need  to  be  so  numerous 
but  well  chosen.  Only  thus  shall  we  be  able  to  conquer  the 
place  which  the  Latins  deserve  in  South  America.” 

England  discovered  Latin  America  more  than  a hundred 
years  ago.  Her  relationships  have  been  largely  commer- 
cial. She  is  now  not  only  endeavoring  to  recapture  her 
trade  lost  largely  to  the  United  States  during  the  recent 
hostilities,  but  also  to  establish  it  on  a firmer  basis  of  cul- 
tural relations  than  existed  before  the  war.  Many  books  on 
the  Latin  American  countries  are  published  in  England  by 
English  authors.  Her  schools  are  founding  professorships 
in  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  languages  and  are  studying 
Latin  American  history  as  never  before.  An  Anglo-Span- 
ish  society  has  recently  been  formed,  and  other  movements 
are  noted  which  show  her  earnestness  in  the  matter. 

Germany  has  for  many  years  made  South  America  one 
of  her  chief  points  of  commercial  attack.  Her  large  colo- 
nies in  the  different  countries  and  her  merchants  in  every 
commercial  center  in  Latin  America  have  not  lost  as  much 
as  might  be  supposed  during  the  war.  Germany  is  pre- 


242 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


pared  to  make  the  greatest  fight  of  her  life  for  trade  in  all 
parts  of  Latin  America.  Directly  connected  with  this  move- 
ment is  the  promotion  of  emigration  to  these  countries  in 
large  numbers  through  a semi-official  emigration  bureau. 

Japan  has  recently  developed  steamship  lines  to  Peru, 
Chile,  Argentina,  Brazil  and  Mexico.  She  has  also  estab- 
lished emigration  to  Brazil  and  her  people  have  been  enter- 
ing Peru  in  large  numbers.  To  be  reckoned  with  as  local 
competitors  are  the  large  numbers  of  Syrians  and  other 
near-eastern  nationalities  who  are  increasingly  becoming 
the  leading  merchants,  especially  in  the  Caribbean  countries. 

All  are  developing  their  shipping  interests.  Of  British 
efforts,  nothing  need  be  said.  It  is  a foregone  conclusion 
that  Great  Britain  will  meet  every  advance  put  forth  by 
competitors. 

The  French  Compagnie  Generale  de  Transports  Mari- 
times  has  instituted  a regular  service  between  France  and 
the  Caribbean  and  Mexican  ports  and  San  Francisco  via  the 
Panama  Canal.  The  Transatlantica  Italiana  and  the  Na- 
cional  de  Navegacion  have  already  sent  steamers  to  Chile  by 
way  of  Panama  and  expect  to  add  ten  more  vessels,  receiv- 
ing a substantial  subsidy  from  the  Chilean  Government. 
Suarez  and  Company,  of  Havana,  have  established  a line  be- 
tween Havana,  the  United  States,  and  the  Argentine.  The 
Compagnie  Generale  Transatlantique  began  last  December 
monthly  sailings  to  the  West  Coast  of  South  America  by 
the  Panama  route.  Ex-German  vessels  seized  by  Portugal 
have  been  assigned  to  Portugal-Brazil  service.  The  firm  of 
Henry  Frank  and  Co.  has  initiated  steamship  service  be- 
tween the  Argentine  and  southern  Brazil ; the  New  York 
and  Cuba  Mail  Steamship  Co.  plans  a monthly  service  be- 
tween European  and  Mexican  ports  and  has  added  new  pas- 
senger and  freight  service  between  New  York  and  Mexico; 
the  Pacific  Steamship  Co.  now  connects  San  Francisco  with 
Corinto,  Nicaragua,  by  boat,  has  inaugurated  a direct  line 
of  steamers  between  New  York  and  Callao-Valparaiso,  and 
is  expecting  soon  to  replace  smaller  vessels  serving  San 
Francisco  and  Central  American  cities  by  5,000-ton  vessels; 
the  Companhia  Minas  e Viacao  de  Matto  Grosso  of  Brazil 
has  let  contracts  in  the  United  States  for  the  construction 


LATIN  AMERICA  AND  THE  WORLD  WAR  243 


of  twenty  ships;  the  Compahia  Viajera  Antillana  has  been 
formed  in  Havana  with  a capital  of  $4,000,000  and  is  hav- 
ing seven  steamships  built  in  England  and  in  the  United 
States;  the  Hollancl-American  Line  is  to  establish  service 
between  Valparaiso  and  other  Chilean  ports  and  Panama; 
the  Latin  American  Line  has  begun  to  run  between  New 
York  and  Santo  Domingo  and  Colombia. 

The  European  nations  are  using  especially  the  power  of 
the  friendly  visitor  to  capture  the  sympathy  of  Hispanic 
America,  whose  temperament  makes  her  particularly  sus- 
ceptible to  this  kind  of  approach.  Since  the  war  closed  Bel- 
gium has  sent  her  hero  King,  France  has  sent  Premier 
Viviani,  and  Italy  Premier  Orlando.  The  most  notable  re- 
ception seems  to  have  been  given  to  distinguished  Spanish 
visitors,  such  as  Ferdinando,  Prince  of  Bavaria,  thus  show- 
ing the  remarkable  revival  of  close  relations  with  the  moth- 
er country,  Spain,  which  has  come  to  be  particularly  notice- 
able during  the  last  year.  In  order  to  promote  further  these 
relations  King  Alfonso  himself  is  now  planning  an  inclusive 
visit.  Besides  these  men  distinguished  in  political  life  there 
have  been  any  number  of  less  known  men  touring  these  coun- 
tries as  individuals  or  members  of  commercial,  scientific, 
literary  or  diplomatic  commissions. 

As  to  the  activities  of  the  United  States  for  developing 
closer  contacts  with  Latin  America  reference  has  already 
been  made  to  the  Pan  American  Financial  Congress  and 
the  activities  growing  out  of  it,  as  also  to  the  Pan  American 
Federation  of  Labor.  The  Second  Pan  American  Scientific 
Congress,  held  in  Washington  in  1916,  and  the  movements 
growing  out  of  it,  did  much  to  remove  the  complaint  of  the 
Latin  Americans  that  the  United  States  was  interested  in 
them  chiefly  from  the  commercial  side,  failing  to  appreciate 
their  contribution  to  science,  literature  and  art.  Besides  the 
continual  activities  of  the  Pan  American  Union,  with  head- 
quarters in  Washington,  there  have  been  developed  a large 
number  of  societies  and  innumerable  publications  for  the 
promotion  of  various  phases  of  inter-American  relations. 

The  Committee  on  Cooperation  in  Latin  America  repre- 
sents a large  movement  among  the  churches  of  the  United 
States  to  cultivate  friendly  relations  with  their  Southern 


244 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


neighbors  and  help  them  to  solve  their  problems  by  sending 
ministers,  teachers,  physicians  and  social  workers  who  will 
share  with  them  the  best  of  North  American  life.  The  Com- 
mittee is  especially  devoted  to  the  production  of  literature, 
particularly  the  translation  into  Spanish  and  Portuguese  of 
some  of  the  best  North  American  books.  It  publishes  a re- 
view, La  Nueva  Democratic,  which  is  probably  the  only 
publication  in  the  Spanish  language  that  offers  a common 
platform  on  which  all  the  Americas  may  discuss  their  spir- 
itual problems. 

Universities  and  colleges  of  the  United  States  have  or- 
ganized special  courses  in  the  languages  and  history  of  Latin 
America,  and  have  made  the  attendance  of  Latin  American 
students  much  easier.  Latin  America  has  come  to  be  an 
increasingly  popular  subject  to  discuss  with  commercial  or- 
ganizations and  chautauqua  audiences.  Banks,  factories, 
steamship  companies  and  engineers  have  made  elaborate 
plans  to  extend  trade  toward  the  south.  It  may  be  said  that 
for  the  first  time  in  its  history  the  United  States  is  awake  to 
the  need  of  developing  close  relations  with  her  southern 
neighbors. 

During  the  war,  then,  and  partly  on  its  account,  all  the 
principal  industrial  nations  of  the  world  have  come  to  ap- 
preciate in  a new  way  the  importance  of  Latin  America,  and 
have  resolved  to  win  commercial  and  cultural  supremacy  in 
these  twenty  young  and  rich  republics,  where  the  struggle 
for  such  supremacy  will  be  keener  than  in  any  other  part 
of  the  world. 


2.  POLITICAL  CHANGES 

The  technical  attitude  of  the  Latin  American  countries  in 
the  world  war  was  as  follows : 

Eight  of  the  twenty  nations  actually  declared  war  on  Ger- 
many. These  were  Brazil,  Costa  Rica,  Cuba,  Guatemala, 
Haiti,  Honduras,  Nicaragua  and  Panama.  Five  other  Latin 
American  states  broke  off  diplomatic  relations  with  Ger- 
many, namely,  Bolivia,  the  Dominican  Republic,  Ecuador, 
Peru  and  Uruguay.  Salvador  declared  herself  in  favor  of 
benevolent  neutrality  toward  the  United  States,  which  per- 


LATIN  AMERICA  AND  THE  WORLD  WAR  245 


mitted  the  use  of  her  ports  and  territorial  waters  by  the 
warships  of  the  United  States  and  the  Allies.  The  six  re- 
maining neutral  nations,  Argentina,  Chile,  Colombia,  Mex- 
ico, Paraguay  and  Venezuela,  either  by  the  statements  of 
the  executives  or  by  resolutions  passed  by  their  congresses, 
or  again  by  the  pro-Ally  tone  of  the  majority  of  their  lead- 
ing newspapers  and  finally  by  the  utterances  of  their  most 
representative  statesmen,  also  expressed  themselves  in  favor 
of  Pan  American  solidarity.1 

The  outstanding  change  in  the  political  life  of  Latin 
America  brought  about  by  the  war,  was  its  new  attitude  of 
friendliness  toward  the  United  States.  It  is  not  necessary 
here  to  refer  to  the  well-known  suspicion  of  the  United 
States  which  has  existed  in  all  Latin  American  countries  for 
years.  This  prejudice  and  the  change  of  sentiment  are  well 
described  in  the  following  editorial  published  in  a leading 
Buenos  Aires  daily  on  July  4,  1917: 


“The  circumstances  in  which  we  find  ourselves  today  on 
this  anniversary  of  the  North  American  nation  serve  to 
define  a double  principle  of  Americanism  and  democracy. 
This  celebration  in  other  years  has  been  an  occasion  for  re« 
joicing  only  for  the  United  States.  She  could,  with  patriotic 
joy,  stop  in  her  march  and  contemplate  with  satisfaction  the 
road  traveled  since  the  days  of  that  memorable  declaration. 
Other  people  joined  the  celebration  with  a cordiality  more 
official  and  diplomatic  than  real. 

“Today  all  is  different.  The  United  States,  by  the  power 
of  that  great  republican  virtue  which  is  the  supporter  of  the 
right,  is  for  the  whole  world  not  only  a nation  engaged  in 
a knightly  war,  but  an  apostle  in  action.  Some  four  years 
ago  the  Latin  author,  Ruben  Dario,  was  able  to  say,  led 
astray  by  superficial  observation,  that  the  United  States, 
which  had  everything,  lacked  but  one  thing — God. 

“Today  this  cannot  be  said,  for  the  crusade  of  the  United 
States  and  the  serene  and  eloquent  words  of  Wilson  have  a 
religious  character,  now  that  they  intimate  the  abandonment 

1 The  causes  of  the  various  attitudes  assumed  by  the  different  Latin  American 
nations  have  been  the  subject  of  much  treatment  in  current  literature  to  which 
reference  is  made  at  the  end  of  this  chapter. 


246 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


and  disregard  of  material  interests  in  the  face  of  the  defense 
of  the  ideal. 

“Quietly,  without  the  sound  of  trumpets  or  noise,  the 
United  States  has  entered  the  contest,  and  thus  it  returns  to 
noble  France  the  generous  contribution  of  that  great  French- 
man, Lafayette,  the  American  national  hero.  If  America 
stands  for  anything  in  the  world  and  in  history  it  is  liberty. 
Other  peoples  have  been  formed  by  reason  of  conquest,  or 
of  religion,  but  the  Americans  were  born  out  of  the  idea  of 
liberty. 

“In  this  sentiment  is  found  the  unity  of  San  Martin,  Boli- 
var and  Washington.  It  matters  little  that  history  registers 
this  or  that  disturbance  and  this  or  that  variation.  That  is 
the  sentiment,  and  that  is  the  thing  that,  after  conquering  all 
cruel  tyrannies  and  retrogressive  desitions,  has  overcome  all. 

“So,  in  the  awful  conflict  which  today  is  shaking  the 
world,  the  United  States  is  bearing  the  burden  of  all  Amer- 
ica, because  she  is  on  the  side  of  liberty.  She  is  the  big  sis- 
ter in  years  and  in  power  among  the  American  nations.  This 
place  belongs  to  her  and  worthily  has  she  taken  it.” 

Dr.  Ernesto  Quesada,  of  Argentina,  speaking  of  the  need 
of  all  America  standing  together,  said:  “Never  more  than 
at  the  present  moment,  while  Europe  is  in  the  great  con- 
flict of  nations,  has  America  been  confronted  with  a more 
vital  necessity  to  stand  together.’’  Senor  Ignacio  Calderon, 
of  Bolivia,  put  it  this  way:  “Freedom  is  a gift  that  is  only 
given  to  nations  who  know  how  and  are  ready  to  defend  it. 
America  is  destined  to  lead  the  world.  Let  us  work  together 
for  the  principle  of  right  and  justice,  of  liberty  and  happi- 
ness.” Dr.  Edward  J.  Pinto  of  Costa  Rica  was  even  more 
emphatic : “It  would  seem,”  he  said,  “that  by  a natural  re- 
flex action  Americans,  having  witnessed  the  result  of  up- 
heaval and  conflict  across  the  Atlantic,  have  banded  together 
in  order  that  the  bonds  of  their  security  and  peace  may  be 
strengthened  and  assured.” 

Many  volumes  could  be  filled  with  such  quotations. 

A Latin  American  writer,  discussing  the  effect  of  the 
arrival  of  the  United  States  Army  at  the  front,,  says : 


LATIN  AMERICA  AND  THE  WORLD  WAR  247 


“The  Americans  arrived  in  time ! It  was  because  they 
had  a pure  ideal.  Benignant  Destiny  willed  that  those  who 
had  least  material  interest  involved  in  it  should  decide  the 
war.  The  dominating  word  of  the  President  explained  to 
the  New  Men  that  the  future  of  Liberty  and  of  Democracy 
was  in  peril,  and  they  marched  bravely  to  the  field  of  battle. 
Ancient  Britain  defended  her  Empire  and  her  maritime  pow- 
er; France  and  Italy  their  integrity;  the  New  Men  defended 
their  ideal,  the  dictates  of  their  consciences,  the  good  of  all, 
the  spiritual  heritage,  the  right  of  coming  men  to  breathe 
with  sovereign  lungs  in  the  atmosphere  of  the  earth.  Be- 
cause they  were  building  a dwelling  worthy  of  the  future 
humanity,  they  had  been  called  materialists.  * * * But  when 
the  deceptive  mist  fades  away,  our  eyes,  filled  with  the  lim- 
pid grace  of  comprehension,  behold  the  Uncle  of  the  Big 
Stick  transfigured  into  an  heroic  paladin.” 

Just  as  the  United  States  entered  the  war  the  writer  be- 
gan an  extended  trip  through  the  southern  hemisphere.  All 
throughout  my  tour,  beginning  at  Mexico,  I felt  this  change 
in  sentiment.  But  not  until  I arrived  in  Chile  did  it  come 
over  me  with  full  force.  On  my  visit  three  years  before  I 
felt  like  leaving  Chile  on  the  first  train,  for  I heard  on  every 
hand  unpleasant  references  to  the  United  States.  The  stu- 
dents of  the  universities  were  particularly  hostile.  This 
time,  when  I called  upon  a professor  in  the  National  Univer- 
sity, I was  asked  to  address  one  of  his  classes ; later  on,  an- 
other; till  I found  myself  giving  a whole  morning  of  talks. 
These  led  to  a conference  at  one  of  the  big  theaters,  secured 
for  the  occasion  by  the  university  students.  The  theme  they 
wanted  me  to  discuss  was,  “How  to  Develop  Closer  Rela- 
tions between  the  United  States  and  Chile.”  At  the  close  of 
the  lecture  a full  hour  was  spent  answering  their  eager  and 
pointed  questions.  I spoke  very  frankly,  analyzing  the  good 
and  bad  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  and  the  Latin,  pointing  out  why 
each  had  failed  to  understand  the  other  in  the  past.  That 
session  with  these  brilliant  young  people  was  a most  delight- 
ful experience.  Their  hunger  for  knowledge  about  North 
American  life,  particularly  concerning  our  universities,  was 
amazing  and  refreshing. 


248 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


For  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  a South  American  na- 
tion Brazil  has  openly  declared  that  the  prime  reason  for 
her  taking  a serious  political  step  was  to  follow  the  leadership 
of  the  United  States.  In  her  note  to  the  other  South  Amer- 
ican powers,  announcing  the  breaking  of  relationships  with 
Germany,  she  said: 

“Brazil  has  never  had,  nor  has  it  now,  warlike  ambitions. 
If  it  has  heretofore  abstained  from  taking  sides  in  the  Euro- 
pean conflict,  it  has  not  been  able  to  continue  indifferent  since 
the  United  States  has  been  drawn  into  the  war  without  any 
further  motives  than  simply  those  of  action  in  the  name  of 
international  justice  and  order.  * * * If  up  to  the  present  the 
relative  lack  of  reciprocity  on  the  part  of  the  American  re- 
publics has  deprived  the  Monroe  Doctrine  of  its  real  char- 
acter, permitting  an  interpretation  scarcely  founded  on  the 
prerogative  of  sovereignty,  the  present  conditions  place 
Brazil  at  the  side  of  the  United  States  of  America  at  this 
critical  moment  in  the  history  of  the  world,  and  continue 
to  give  our  political  relationships  a practical  form  of  con- 
tinental solidarity.” 

In  the  same  way  Panama,  in  its  declaration  of  war, 
says  that,  “Neutrality  is  impossible  in  a conflict  where  the 
vital  interests  of  the  United  States  are  involved.” 

The  visit  of  the  North  American  fleet  under  the  command 
of  Admiral  Caperton  to  South  American  waters  in  1917 
promoted  these  friendly  relations  in  a remarkable  way.  In 
order  that  the  fleet  might  visit  Montevideo  when  Uruguay 
had  not  yet  broken  relations  with  the  Central  Powers,  the 
government  promulgated  the  following  special  decree,  which 
will  no  doubt  be  of  great  weight  in  future  international  re- 
lationships in  America : 

“Whereas  the  Government  of  Uruguay  has  proclaimed 
the  principle  of  American  solidarity  as  a criterion  of  its  in- 
ternational policy,  it  hereby  decrees  that  no  American  coun- 
try, which  in  defense  of  its  own  rights  should  find  itself  in 
a state  of  war  with  nations  of  other  continents  will  be  treat- 
ed as  a belligerent.” 


LATIN  AMERICA  AND  THE  WORLD  WAR  249 


In  Montevideo  the  whole  program  and  reception  were 
practically  directed  by  the  Young  Men’s  Christian  Associa- 
tion, to  which  the  government  turned  over  a large  building 
near  the  wharf.  In  this  building  there  were  opened  a read- 
ing-room, a writing-room,  a reception  hall,  and  a bureau  of 
information.  Ten  thousand  dollars  American  gold  was  ex- 
changed for  the  visitors  in  one  day.  In  this  same  building 
the  Salvation  Army  conducted  a restaurant  in  which  nearly 
one  thousand  men  were  fed  daily.  Every  night  there  were 
entertainments  of  different  kinds,  furnished  largely  by  the 
young  people  of  the  churches  and  social  organizations. 

The  last  Sunday  night  of  the  visit  at  Montevideo  a re- 
markable meeting  was  held  in  this  hall,  lasting  about  four 
hours.  The  dean  of  the  literati  of  Uruguay,  Dr.  Juan  Zo- 
rilla  de  San  Martin,  who  is  known  wherever  the  Spanish 
language  is  read,  said,  in  speaking  to  the  boys : 

“It  is  the  breath,  indeed,  of  that  great  lady  of  ours,  De- 
mocracy, my  friends,  which  waves  those  glorious  banners 
that  you  unfurl  on  your  mastheads;  it  is  her  breath  which 
carries  them  into  this  war  that  America  has  not  provoked 
but  that  has  struck  her  to  the  heart  with  its  mailed  fist  and 
has  aroused  her  in  the  name  of  her  duty  toward  humanity ; 
it  is,  in  a word,  that  which  now  welds  in  a great  embrace 
your  ensigns  filled  with  the  light  of  the  stars  and  ours  filled 
with  the  splendor  of  the  sun  and  makes  of  them  one  benefi- 
cent constellation. 

“But  this  moment  has  come  in  which  I find  myself  in  re- 
lation not  with  a great  multitude  or  a gigantic  collective  per- 
son but  in  immediate  and  affectionate  contact  with  men 
whom  we  love  individually,  with  spirits  that  are  to  us  real 
favorites ; with  each  and  all  of  you,  valiant  and  good  sea- 
men of  our  great  sister,  toward  whom  I feel  an  irresistible 
impulse  of  genuine  affection. 

“And  this  constitutes,  my  friends,  the  most  intimate  of 
brotherhoods.  If  the  fraternity  of  our  countries  comes 
from  the  common  mother,  Democracy,  this  of  which  I now 
speak,  this  which  inspires  in  me  such  warmth  of  affection 
and  interest  in  each  and  every  one  of  you,  this  comes  from 
something  higher  and  more  enduring — our  common  uni- 


250 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


versal  Father,  our  Father  which  is  in  Heaven,  and  who  is 
one  with  the  Son  whom  we  all  worship,  Jesus  Christ  the 
Divine  Redeemer  of  men. 

“I  wish  to  speak  to  you  of  Him  on  this  occasion,  my 
friends  and  brothers,  because  I wish  to  leave  in  your  souls 
as  the  most  precious  remembrance  of  my  country,  living  and 
eternal  words.  Cherish  them  as  precious  jewels,  in  the 
depths,  in  the  most  intimate  and  hidden  recesses  of  the  se- 
cret places  of  your  hearts. 

“This  house  that  we  have  specially  prepared  for  you  in 
order  that  you  might  pass  here  in  innocent  and  pleasant 
occupation  your  leisure  time,  in  order  that  you  might  here 
find  a reflection  of  your  faraway  home,  in  order  that  you 
might  here  renew  the  memory  of  your  fathers,  of  your 
mothers,  of  your  sweethearts,  who  are  now  thinking  of  you; 
of  your  native  land  in  which  your  absence  is  felt  while  you 
are  away  on  the  call  of  your  country;  this  house  and  this 
meeting  which  we  offer  you  show  that  we  Uruguayans  have 
been  thinking  of  you  all  individually,  that  we  have  seen  in 
the  crews  of  your  formidable  warships  not  only  the  units 
of  an  army  which  is  passing,  but  the  members  of  a family, 
with  whom  we  share  our  home ; not  an  anonymous  group  o? 
beings  destined  to  die,  but  a handful  of  beloved  brothers  for 
whose  life  we  raise  our  prayer  to  our  common  Father  and 
whom  we  would  wish  to  embrace  one  by  one,  to  save  one  by 
one  from  the  dangers  and  hidden  enemies,  not  only  material 
but  moral  as  well,  which  may  rise  to  meet  them  in  their  un- 
selfish journeying  to  and  fro  by  sea  and  land. 

“I  see  now  before  me  that  fair  young  sailor,  almost  a 
child,  who  looks  at  me  with  his  large  blue  eyes  full  of 
memories  * * * and  that  other  * * * yes,  hundreds  of 
others.  * * * A profound  feeling  of  personal  affection,  I was 
going  to  say  fatherly  affection,  is  awakened  in  my  heart  and 
surges  up  to  irritate  my  eyes.  I am  thinking  of  the  pure 
and  lovely  things  which  bind  men  closest  together;  I feel 
that  the  strongest  of  ties  is  being  knit  between  my  soul  and 
yours,  my  brave  lads,  joyous  heralds  of  Mother  America, 
soldiers  of  justice,  of  right,  and  of  peace ! Many,  and  most 
happy,  are  the  memories  left  in  Montevideo  by  the  notable 
and  gracious  visit  of  the  United  States  fleet  to  which  you 


LATIN  AMERICA  AND  THE  WORLD  WAR  251 


belong,  but,  my  valiant  sailors,  of  all  these  memories  the 
most  gratifying  and  lasting  is  that  of  your  own  conduct 
among  us ; we  have  seen  you  in  our  streets  and  even  in  our 
churches  as  models  of  democratic  culture;  you  have  left  us 
the  example  of  an  army  of  gentlemen  above  reproach,  of 
men  truly  free  and,  what  is  more,  of  citizens  worthy  of  that 
freedom,  masters  of  themselves. 

“Farewell  then,  brave  soldiers  of  our  free  and  republican 
America.  I have  given  you  in  my  words  the  most  precious 
thing  which  I have  been  able  to  find  for  you  in  the  depths 
of  my  soul,  the  best  that  as  a parting  gift,  I believe  is  to 
be  found  among  the  riches  of  this  my  country  of  Uruguay : 
paternal  inspirations,  sincere  love  for  your  souls.  Every- 
thing else  passes  away,  this  alone  remains  to,  and  through- 
out, eternity. 

“Continue  then,  with  valor  and  with  unwavering  faith  in 
victory,  your  glorious  journeyings  on  the  great  deep  in  the 
beneficent  shadow  of  your  spotless  banner.  Cherish  with 
affection  the  remembrance  of  this  land  of  Uruguay,  whose 
fraternal  embrace  your  very  hearts  have  felt.” 

These  remarkable  words  show  not  only  how  the  hearts  of 
Americans,  North  and  South,  have  been  opened  to  one  an- 
other recently.  They  show  also  the  significant  spiritual  cur- 
rents which  have  been  set  in  motion  recently  in  the  Southern 
countries. 


3.  SPIRITUAL  CHANGES 

The  outstanding  spiritual  change  brought  about  by  the 
war  is  an  increased  open-mindedness.  The  people  of  Latin 
America  are  doing  more  fundamental  thinking  than  ever 
before  in  their  history.  They  have  hitherto  been  ruled  more 
by  sentiment  than  by  reason.  They  have  rested  on  the  glori- 
ous past  of  the  Latin  race,  have  magnified  the  differences 
between  Latin  Catholics  and  Anglo-Saxon  Protestants,  and 
have  minimized  the  great  economic  and  moral  bases  of 
American  solidarity.  They  had  ceased  to  regard  religion  as 
a real  factor  in  a modern  life.  But  this  World  War,  with 
its  rude  shock  to  their  economic  progress  and  to  many  of 


252 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


their  philosophic  theories,  supposedly  beyond  attack,  com- 
pelled them  to  re-examine  their  individual  and  national  rela- 
tionships and  to  restate  their  theories.  The  spirit  of  inquiry, 
the  willingness  to  listen,  the  new  readiness  to  seek  after 
God,  if  perchance  they  might  find  Him,  impresses  one  pro- 
foundly as  traveling  in  those  countries  he  talks  with  men 
of  every  status  from  university  professors  to  laboring  men. 

Not  since  the  struggle  for  independence  a century  ago 
has  all  Latin  America  been  so  stirred  with  the  need  of  de- 
cision on  a moral  question  as  during  the  war.  Some  of  the 
most  dramatic  scenes  ever  enacted  in  her  history  took  place 
in  the  legislative  halls  and  public  assemblies  when  the  ques- 
tions concerning  the  nation’s  attitude  toward  the  war  were 
debated.  In  Peru,  Dr.  Mariano  H.  Cornejo,  in  a brilliant 
address  before  Congress  September  7,  1917,  thus  stated  the 
moral  issues  involved:  “Gentlemen,  I do  not  exaggerate 
when  I say  that  never  has  Peru  had  in  her  past  history, 
never  will  she  have  in  the  future,  a greater  problem  than 
to  decide  her  attitude  toward  the  world  conflict,  whose 
issues  illumine  the  human  conscience,  bringing  to  judgment 
all  religious  and  scientific  dogmas,  all  moral  values,  all  the 
utopias  that  man  has  conceived  through  the  centuries.  In 
the  universe  reality  consists  not  simply  in  the  material 
which  is  temporal.  Reality  also  consists  in  the  intangible 
light.  He  does  not  know  reality  who  does  not  take  into 
account  the  unseen  energy.  * * * Do  you  know  in  what 
consists  the  supreme  science  of  statesmanship?  It  consists 
in  knowing  which  is  the  hour  of  ideals  and  which  the  hour 
of  personal  interest.  Lost  are  the  peoples  who  misread  the 
great  pendulum  of  History.  * * * The  peoples  of  America 
are  called  upon  to  enlist  themselves  on  the  side  of  the  Ideal. 
How  unfortunate  that  at  this  time  the  ideal  is  so  confounded 
with  personal  interest!” 

Dr.  Leopoldo  Lugones,  one  of  the  outstanding  men  of  Ar- 
gentina, in  arguing  for  a visit  of  the  United  States  fleet  to 
Buenos  Aires,  said: 

“In  Argentina  neutrality  is  a desertion.  This  is  true  be- 
cause, in  spite  of  all  that  is  said  today,  there  is  no  neutrality. 
Here  as  in  the  entire  world,  there  are  two  powers  that  com- 


LATIN  AMERICA  AND  THE  WORLD  WAR  253 


pete  with  one  another — despotism  and  liberty.  And  the 
object  of  such  a gigantic  struggle  is  the  right  to  live  with 
honor,  without  which  even  the  life  of  a dog  is  too  sad.  This 
has  received  since  the  beginning  of  the  war  a sublime  rati- 
fication. Belgium,  only  a little  atom  in  relation  to  colossal 
Germany,  preferred  her  honor  to  her  life.  She  gained  with 
this  her  place  of  equality  among  the  great.  Did  I say  equal- 
ity? Historical  grandeur  has  nothing  that  goes  beyond  itD 


The  following  are  extracts  from  an  address  delivered  in 
the  Brazilian  Senate  on  Armistice  Day  by  the  well-known 
Brazilian  statesman,  Dr.  Ruy  Barbosa,  who  was  called  from 
his  home  to  address  the  Senate  upon  the  receipt  of  the  news 
of  peace: 

“I  have  spent  the  entire  morning,  until  eleven  o’clock,  in 
writing  at  considerable  length  a reply  in  the  name  of  Bra- 
zilian charity  to  the  appeal  of  American  charity,  which  is 
now  carrying  on  a campaign,  both  there  and  here,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  to  provide 
spiritual,  moral  and  social  aid  and  comfort  to  the  soldiers  of 
democracy,  whose  mission  has  not  yet  been  concluded  upon 
the  battle-fields  of  Europe,  silent  today  under  the  shadow 
of  peace,  but  agitated  still  by  the  birth  of  the  new  problems 
which  have  followed  the  war,  and  which  will  not  be  lighter 
than  those  of  the  war  itself  as  a test  of  the  ability  and  talents 
of  the  great  statesmen  of  the  period,  of  the  resources  and 
powers  of  the  great  nations  now  crowned  with  the  recent 
victory. 

“I  desire  to  lift  up  my  heart  in  praise  to  God  for  not  havr 
ing  permitted  me  to  deceive  myself,  when,  in  the  conference 
at  Buenos  Aires,  I counseled  our  nation,  I counseled  the 
other  Latin  American  republics,  I counseled  the  great  repub- 
lic of  the  north,  I counseled  all  America,  I counseled  all  the 
neutral  countries  of  the  world,  to  break  this  unbearable 
neutrality  between  crime  and  right,  between  falsehood  and 
truth,  between  infamy  and  justice.  I desire  only  to  say: 
‘Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  peace  on  earth  among  men  of 
good  will,’  whose  faith,  whose  perseverance,  whose  heroism, 


254  PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 

took  this  cause  upon  their  shoulders  and  bore  it  to  the  final 
victory  of  this  present  hour. 

“However,  gentlemen,  there  is  still  another  lesson  of  the 
war  just  ended,  and  we  must  not  forget  to  make  use  of  it 
for  ourselves,  for  the  salvation  of  our  own  country. 

“The  world  moves  toward  other  laws,  toward  other  goals, 
toward  a future  of  illimitable  extent.  Crowns  have  disap- 
peared, democracy  seems  to  be  extending  its  vast  dominion 
over  the  whole  world.  All  human  relationships  are  changed, 
transformed,  recast,  even  those  between  the  sexes.  The 
older  conditions  of  life  are  being  swept  away  in  a revolution 
that  may  have  incalculable  results. 

“Will  it  be  possible  for  Brazil  in  the  midst  of  all  these 
revolutions  and  upheavals,  not  to  suffer  its  meed  of  change 
in  the  character  of  its  politics,  its  institutions,  the  pro- 
cedures of  its  statesmen? 

“But,  gentlemen,  we  must  be  taught  by  these  events,  and 
we  ought  to  realize  that  our  republic  must  accommodate 
herself  to  the  new  modes  of  thought,  that  our  government 
must  set  its  people  a different  example  from  the  wonted  one, 
or  days  perhaps  tempestuous  will  be  in  store  for  us.” 

A new  humility  has  come  over  Hispanic  Americans. 
Countries  that  have  heretofore  considered  themselves  as 
comparing  favorably  with  some  of  the  big  nations  of  the 
world  have  come  to  realize  how  utterly  inadequate  their  re- 
sources in  men  and  money  would  be  in  entering  into  a con- 
test of  the  magnitude  of  the  world  war.  If  they  have  been 
disillusioned  concerning  their  own  strength  they  have  been 
also  concerning  the  supposed  military  weakness  of  the  United 
States.  A fable  has  drifted  about  that  Mexicans  believed 
that  if  Texas  was  taken  out,  she  should  whip  the  United 
States.  Certainly  Mexico  has  been  entirely  convinced  by  the 
World  War  that  so  far  as  military  force  is  concerned  she 
would  stand  no  show  against  the  United  States.  Thus  one 
of  the  arguments  at  least  of  the  interventionists  is  removed, 
namely,  that  we  ought  to  whip  Mexico  because  she  believed 
we  could  not  do  it. 

This  realization  of  the  weakness  of  their  national  re- 
sources and  life  is  causing  the  leaders  in  several  countries 


LATIN  AMERICA  AND  THE  WORLD  WAR  255 


to  make  in  a spirit  of  humility  a new  study  of  their  economic, 
educational  and  social  life. 

These  Southerners  have  been  forced  to  face  many  de- 
cisions that  involved  an  analysis  of  moral  purposes.  They 
have  lived,  during  the  past,  rather  in  isolation,  believing 
that  science  had  solved  their  problems  for  them,  that  nature 
had  given  them  all  that  could  be  desired  of  riches  and  pros- 
perity, and  that  religion  had  been  practically  eliminated. 
But  they  were  suddenly  confronted  with  the  necessity  of 
deciding  which  side  they  would  take  in  a world  struggle, 
realizing  that  they  were  being  watched  by  the  whole  world 
as  they  made  this  decision.  They  were  thus  compelled  to 
think  of  other  things  than  the  economic  interests  in  which 
they  had  trusted  almost  entirely  in  the  past. 

These  conditions  also  made  them  take  life  more  seri- 
ously. Stopped  from  over-borrowing,  both  in  public  and  in 
private,  they  were  compelled  to  think  of  saving  money  as 
well  as  food  and  materials.  A family  which  ordinarily  had 
several  automobiles  for  its  different  members  now  had  to 
be  content  with  one.  Even  if  they  had  the  money  to  buy 
automobiles  or  sugar  or  coal,  they  were  often  forced  to 
realize  that  there  were  times  when  not  even  money  could  buy 
the  things  desired.  The  effect  was  something  like  a spoilt 
child  losing  his  parents  and  being  cut  off  from  all  of  the 
things  he  had  naturally  supposed  would  come  to  him  for- 
ever. 

Moreover  the  stories  of  the  sacrifices  and  the  heroism  of 
the  peoples  of  Europe  had  large  effect.  Whether  their  par- 
ticular nation  declared  war  or  not  people  were  compelled  to 
wake  up  to  the  meaning  of  war.  The  organization  in  their 
own  homes  of  the  work  of  such  enterprises  as  the  Red 
Cross,  carried  on  at  first  by  the  British  and  French,  later 
by  the  Americans,  and  still  later  joined  in  by  the  nationals 
of  the  various  countries  themselves,  had  a widespread  effect 
in  awakening  the  people  to  the  need  for  sacrifice  and  service. 

Even  the  investment  in  Liberty  Bonds  has  had  a good 
effect  in  bringing  about  these  closer  relations  and  in  em- 
phasizing the  lessons  of  thrift  and  responsibility  of  different 
peoples  to  help  one  another.  The  campaigns  for  the  various 
war  funds  for  the  Allies  were  carried  on  in  practically  every 


256 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


Latin  American  country  and  yielded  large  results.  Even 
little  Santo  Domingo  gave  some  $85,000  in  one  campaign 
to  the  Red  Cross.  The  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association 
was  able  to  raise  large  sums  of  money  for  its  buildings  in 
Montevideo  and  Rio  de  Janeiro,  when  the  war  was  at  its 
height.  Thus  a new  spirit  of  giving  was  developed  by  the 
war.  This  new  spirit  will  be  favorable  to  a large  support  of 
those  philanthropic  projects  which  are  for  the  development 
of  the  community.  It  is  impressive  to  note  the  large  number 
of  individuals  and  organizations  that  are  now  beginning  to 
engage  in  efforts  to  serve  the  people.  The  Temperance  So- 
ciety of  Peru,  which  is  composed  of  some  of  the  leading  men 
of  the  country,  is  doing  a remarkable  work.  In  Chile  and 
Uruguay  there  are  a large  number  of  societies  promoting 
educational  and  charitable  work  which  are  quite  independent 
of  the  government.  In  Argentina  there  are  large  groups, 
ranging  in  their  activities  from  discussions  in  university 
halls  to  socialistic  meetings  among  workmen  on  the  street 
corners,  which  indicate  spiritual  hunger  and  initiative. 

The  Child  Welfare  Congress  is  an  illustration  of  this 
new  spirit.  The  second  such  Congress  held  in  June,  1919,  in 
Montevideo  was  an  outstanding  success,  and  denotes  a new 
day  for  the  neglected  child  in  South  America.  The  discus- 
sions were  frank  and  fundamental.  It  is  impossible  to 
imagine  a physician  saying  in  public  a few  years  ago,  as  one 
did  at  this  recent  Congress,  such  words  as  the  following: 

“With  relative  frequency,  and  in  the  case  of  women  who 
are  neither  ignorant  nor  poverty-stricken,  I have  been  able 
to  observe  another  cause  of  the  abandonment  of  the  child, 
something  comparable  to  that  which  has  been  the  result  of 
the  barbarous  violations  of  women  by  the  soldiers  and  offi- 
cers of  the  German  army  in  Belgium  and  France.  Seduced 
by  individuals  of  a higher  social  class  than  their  own,  which 
fact  drives  away  from  their  minds  all  thought  of  legal 
reparation — marriage  or  the  legitimation  of  the  child — or 
betrayed  by  specimens  of  that  impudent  class  of  young  sports 
who  abound,  particularly  in  the  country  districts,  and  who 
keep  account  of  their  conquests  with  the  same  cold-blooded- 
ness and  pleasure  that  a hunter  calculates  the  number  of 


LATIN  AMERICA  AND  THE  WORLD  WAR  £57 


trophies  fallen  to  his  gun — these  poor  young  mothers  aban- 
don their  child  in  despair.” 

The  most  remarkable  of  all  reform  movements  are  the 
two  which  in  the  United  States  have  led  to  additional  amend- 
ments to  our  Constitution — Prohibition  and  Feminism. 
Leading  statesmen  of  these  Southern  countries  have  recently 
given  voice  to  utterances  which  clearly  show  that  they  rec- 
ognize the  probability  that  both  these  movements  -will  grow 
very  rapidly.  An  illustration  of  the  eagerness  of  women  to 
enter  into  a larger  life  is  found  in  the  recent  organization  of 
a Young  Women’s  Christian  Association  in  Rio  de  Janeiro. 
Within  one  year  it  had  1,200  members. 

There  is  an  encouraging  demand  for  light  on  spiritual 
questions.  A course  of  lectures,  which  proved  to  be  most 
popular  recently  in  Buenos  Aires,  was  given  on  Emerson 
and  the  significance  of  the  Puritan  and  Unitarian  move- 
ments in  New  England.  The  professor  who  gave  these  is 
profoundly  concerned  for  his  country  as  he  says  it  makes  no 
difference  how  far  Argentina  may  advance  materially,  unless 
she  finds  a spirit-basis  for  her  development,  she  cannot  be- 
come a strong  nation.  He  has  been  considering  recently  the 
organization  of  a conference  on  religion,  with  representa- 
tives from  all  the  faiths  of  Argentina,  to  face  up  to  this 
question,  which  he  says  is  the  most  important  now  before  his 
people. 

Leaders  in  various  countries  also  realize  more  deeply 
than  before  the  necessity  of  practical  and  moral  education 
for  their  children,  and  so  impressed  are  they  by  the  work  of 
the  North  American  mission  schools  that  they  are  anxious 
to  have  the  number  increased.  There  is  scarcely  one  of  these 
schools  in  all  Latin  America  that  is  not  greatly  overcrowded. 
The  President  of  Paraguay,  in  discussing  education  with  a 
group  of  North  American  missionaries  who  recently  went 
to  Asuncion  to  plan  for  a new  station,  was  so  eager  to  co- 
operate, that  he  offered  public  lands  for  an  agricultural 
school,  and  mentioned  an  experimental  station,  already  be- 
gun, which  could  be  turned  over,  equipment  and  all.  He  also 
promised  his  own  children  and  those  of  the  most  prominent 
families  as  pupils.  A most  remarkable  proposition  was 


258 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


made  recently  to  North  American  missionaries  by  one  of  the 
states  of  Brazil  which  offered  them  the  free  use  of  a well 
equipped  agricultural  school,  with  some  10,000  acres  of 
land,  agreeing  to  back  the  school  for  a period  of  fifty  years, 
if  the  mission  would  provide  the  leaders  in  the  teaching 
force.  Moreover,  the  management  was  to  have  entire  free- 
dom in  the  matter  of  religious  instruction.  The  Government 
of  Brazil  has  selected  a former  teacher  in  one  of  the  mis- 
sion schools  there  to  head  a modern  school  of  domestic 
science  and  paid  her  expenses  to  the  United  States  to  secure 
seven  other  young  women  teachers,  specifying  that  they, 
like  herself,  should  have  the  missionary  spirit. 

Many  prominent  Latin  Americans  claim  that  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  has  lost  prestige  in  South  America  because 
of  the  general  recognition  that  the  Roman  hierarchy  in  prac- 
tically all  of  these  countries  as  well  as  in  Europe  favored 
Germany.  The  following  words  of  Senor  Vildosola,  Editor 
of  El  Mercurio  of  Santiago,  are  generally  applicable  to 
other  Latin  American  countries  : 

“Perhaps  the  most  of  those  who  in  Chile  are  still  friendly 
to  the  German  cause  are  to  be  found  among  the  clergy  and 
the  militant  Catholics,  although  indeed  they  are  not  the  more 
cultured  and  better  informed.  At  the  beginning  of  the  war 
many  members  of  the  Chilean  clergy  suffered  the  same  per- 
turbation of  judgment  as  that  in  wrhich  the  Spanish  clergy 
still  remains ; they  believed  that  in  this  war  the  German  Em- 
pire was  an  instrument  of  Providence  to  chastise  France  for 
having  expelled  the  religious  orders.” 

F.  B.  Luquiers,  writing  in  The  Century,  refers  to  the  same 
fact,  as  follows: 

“The  last  common  factor  is  very  hard  for  us  to  under- 
stand, for  there  is  nothing  similar  in  the  United  States.  I 
refer  to  the  pro-German  influence  of  the  Latin  American 
clergy.  The  attitude  of  the  church  in  Latin  American  coun- 
tries is  perhaps  to  be  explained  by  the  fact  that  a majority 
of  the  priests  are  merely  following  the  lead  of  Spain,  for  a 
tendency  to  look  to  Spain  in  matters  of  religion  is  the  single 


LATIN  AMERICA  AND  THE  WORLD  WAR  259 


exception  to  the  rule  that  France  is  Latin  America’s  coun- 
selor in  all  things  material.  It  is  very  possible,  in  other 
words,  that  the  first  cause  of  the  pro-Germanism  of  the  Latin 
American  clergy  is  to  be  found  in  the  Napoleonic  invasion 
of  Spain  more  than  a hundred  years  ago.  In  any  case,  it  is 
certain  that  the  lowest  classes  in  Latin  America,  who  feel 
no  love  for  France,  because  they  have  no  artistic  impulses, 
and  who  do  not  abhor  anything  except  starvation,  have  been 
easily  pro-Germanized  by  their  clerical  advisers.” 

A radical  writer  in  The  Review  of  Philosophy,  Culture, 
Science  and  Education  of  Buenos  Aires  takes  advantage  of 
the  situation  to  say  the  following : 

“And  that  which  is  even  a greater  anachronism,  that  which 
reveals  the  absolute  lack  of  moral  value  in  religion — since 
being  religious  does  not  signify  being  a lover  of  justice — 
is  the  fact  that  has  been  proved  all  over  the  world,  and  that 
is  the  sympathy  of  the  Catholics  for  Germany,  and  the  estab- 
lished principle  that  everyone  under  clerical  influence  is  also 
a Germanophile.  This  is  an  aberration,  an  absurdity,  an 
inadmissible  incongruity, — inadmissible  but  nevertheless 
real.  And  the  Spanish  people,  dominated  by  a retrograde 
and  rancid  clergy,  is  that  which  has  struck  the  highest  note 
in  this  matter,  reaching  extremes  of  tolerance  for  the  Kaiser 
that  is  truly  inexplicable.” 

This  spirit  of  revolt  against  religion  and  society,  as  already 
pointed  out,  is  growing.  A number  of  ultra-socialistic,  anar- 
chistic and  Bolshevist  periodicals  are  now  being  published 
in  Argentina,  Brazil,  Mexico  and  other  countries.  We  must 
remember  that  this  seed  falls  in  prepared  soil.  The  laboring 
classes  have  been  greatly  abused  and  controlled  by  super- 
stitions and  they  will  not  stop  at  any  extreme  when  they 
find  that  they  have  the  power,  unless  Christian  leadership 
sanely  guides  these  movements  among  the  laborers.  The 
Catholic  Church  in  Buenos  Aires  has  recently  assigned  some 
of  its  priests  to  join  the  street  meetings  of  the  laborers  and 
counteract  the  influence  of  the  agitators.  “Evangelical 
Christianity  is  all  that  can  save  Chile  from  a bloody  revolu- 


260 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


tion,”  said  a student  of  social  affairs  not  long  ago.  In 
Mexico  evangelical  ministers,  many  of  whom  have  taken  a 
prominent  part  in  the  recent  revolution,  have  already  had  a 
quieting  influence  on  such  agitation. 

The  writer  recently  addressed  a questionnaire  concerning 
the  new  conditions  of  education  and  religion  in  their  coun- 
tries to  a number  of  Latin  Americans.  The  following  are 
some  answers: 

“Applied  Christianity  must  be  made  a factor  in  national, 
political  and  social  thought.” 

“The  church  must  be  put  to  work.  Make  it  a business  and 
men  will  care  for  it.  Its  activities  will  help  to  save  it  in  this 
era  of  industrial  iconoclasm.  There  is  no  medium  like  the 
Christian  religion  for  the  overcoming  of  prejudice.  Racial, 
class  and  linguistic  barriers  are  set  aside  and  the  political 
honesty  of  Wilson  wins  response  from  the  sensitive  Latins. 
It  is  self-evident  that  we  must  have  this  international  moral 
rapprochement.” 

“The  religious  organization  must  be  no  less  democratized 
than  the  political  organization  of  human  society.” 

“On  every  hand  there  is  a clamor  for  a higher  type  of 
Christianity.  Most  men  shrink  from  the  mere  thought  of 
religion  in  forms  or  in  creedal  symbols  or  theological  terms. 
The  average  man  is  repelled  by  conversations  in  which  there 
is  frequent  reference  to  the  church  as  the  representative  of 
Jesus  Christ.  There  exists  in  the  popular  mind  a clear  dis- 
tinction between  the  Christianity  of  Jesus  and  that  of  the  ec- 
clesiastics. The  robust  and  virile  type  of  discipleship  is 
commended.  For  the  man  in  the  street  contemplative  Chris- 
tianity has  been  largely  sacrificed  to  the  more  practical  type. 
Service  is  more  important  than  services.  Tolerance  is  as 
necessary  as  conviction.” 

There  is  pretty  universal  testimony  that  all  the  religious 
work  must  for  the  best  results  tend  toward  educational 
methods.  As  to  education,  it  must  recognize: 

“That  science  is  not  necessarily  benign  unless  informed 
by  humane  ideals — efficiency  is  not  an  end  in  itself — Liberty 


LATIN  AMERICA  AND  THE  WORLD  WAR  261 


is.  That  the  State  should  exist  for  persons,  not  persons  for 
the  State.  That  if  strong  national  government  tends  to 
molestation  of  one’s  neighbors,  anarchy,  of  the  peaceful 
type  (the  extreme  of  individualism),  is  preferable.” 

‘‘That  real  education  en  masse  is  impossible,  just  as  char- 
acter building  en  masse  is  likewise  impossible.  We  need  to 
teach  and  practice  the  privilege  of  the  trained  individual  to 
interpret  the  duty  and  destiny  of  others  to  them,  by  unan- 
swerable example.” 

‘‘The  urgent  necessity  of  an  educational  system  organized 
to  use  public  funds  in  public  education  for  the  training  of 
public-spirited  citizens,  competent  and  eager  to  render  ser- 
vice. This,  of  course,  involves  academic  and  practical 
training,  but  this  should  be  made  subordinate  to  the  prime 
goal  of  public  service  as  distinguished  from  private  gain. 
There  must  be  a reorganization  of  courses  of  study  and  of 
general  school  activities  with  this  in  view.  The  educational 
system  is  in  danger  of  developing  along  two  lines,  inconsis- 
tent with  the  general  principle  suggested  above : first,  an 
exceedingly  narrow,  superficial  and  excessive  nationalism, 
and  second,  a selfish  and  narrow  vocational  training  not  de- 
signed to  cultivate  public  spirit.” 

‘‘All  educational  factors  must  be  so  organized  as  to  train 
for  world  citizenship.  Public  sentiment  must  be  educated 
to  frown  upon  and  refuse  to  tolerate  the  exploitation  of  the 
people  in  industrial,  social  or  political  fields;  or  jingoistic 
activities;  or  narrow,  selfish  nationalism.” 

Educators  and  religious  leaders,  some  correspondents  say, 
must  with  renewed  vigor  and  from  the  modern  viewpoint, 
show  the  falsity  of  the  materialistic  and  economic  theories 
of  life.  By  new  methods  the  people  must  be  shown  that 
strong  nationality  can  only  be  developed  through  love  and 
service  and  sacrifice.  The  spiritual  leader  must  find  new 
ways  of  identifying  himself  with  the  social,  philanthropic 
organizations  that  are  seeking  outside  of  the  church  to  do  the 
same  things  that  he  is  seeking  to  do  in  the  church.  He  must 
realize  that  the  church  itself,  as  long  as  it  is  composed  of 
human  beings,  is  not  a perfect  organization,  that  besides 
there  are  many  honest,  spiritually  minded  people  outside  the 


262 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


church  who  are  doing  much  for  the  Kingdom.  He  must 
seek  fellowship  with  these  men  and  work  shoulder  to  shoul- 
der with  them.  Rightly  guiding  the  rising  spirit  of  nation- 
alism is  mentioned  as  an  important  task.  Ricardo  Rojas 
defines  nationalism  as  patriotism  which  has  as  its  terri- 
torial and  political  base  the  nation.  Its  elements  are  soli- 
darity, the  consciousness  of  tradition  and  of  language.  He 
regards  as  “active  factors  of  national  dissolution  Jewish 
schools  where  lessons  are  given  in  Hebrew,  or  colleges  of 
religious  congregations,  Protestant  establishments  and  Ger- 
man and  Italian  educational  institutions  which  obey  for- 
eign governments.”  Discouragingly  he  describes  a growing 
“cosmopolitanism  in  men  and  ideas,  the  dissolution  of  the 
old  moral  nuclei,  indifference  concerning  the  public  busi- 
ness, and  increasing  forgetfulness  of  traditions,  the  popular 
corruption  of  language,  ignorance  of  our  own  territory,  lack 
of  national  solidarity,  anxiety  for  riches  without  scruple, 
the  worship  of  the  most  ignoble  hierarchies,  the  disdain  of 
higher  accomplishments,  the  lack  of  passion  in  struggle,  the 
lowering  of  suffrage,  superstitious  regard  for  exotic  names, 
and  blasting  individualism  and  depreciation  of  ideals.”  The 
school  is  for  Rojas  the  protector  of  nationalism,  “as  the 
church  confronts  a crisis  and  the  family  is  not  yet  a pow- 
erful factor.”  The  spiritual  leader  should  guide  this  na- 
tionalism in  sane  channels  and  lead  it  into  internationalism, 
showing  that  Christianity  needs  the  peculiar  emphasis  of 
Latin  America  and  North  America,  the  Orient  and  of  all 
peoples  to  make  it  a perfect  whole. 

It  seems  well  to  close  these  quotations  with  a letter  just 
received  from  Dr.  Jose  Ingenieros  of  Buenos  Aires,  well 
known  author  and  critic,  which  reveals  both  the  difficult  so- 
cial problem  and  the  most  unfortunate  reaction  that  has  in 
the  last  few  months  set  in  against  the  United  States,  espe- 
cially in  Argentina,  where  commercial  difficulties  have  col- 
ored all  our  relations.  He  writes : 

“The  religious  and  moral  problem  is  today  subordinated 
in  all  parts  of  the  world  to  the  social  problem;  until  the  in- 
iquitous action  of  capital  is  done  away  with,  it  is  impossible 
to  look  for  justice  and  the  solidarity  of  the  people. 


LATIN  AMERICA  AND  THE  WORLD  WAR  263 


“We  who  believed  three  years  ago  in  the  famous  proposi- 
tions of  Wilson  are  now  undeceived  in  face  of  the  immoral 
avarice  of  the  Allied  governments ; the  peace  of  V ersailles 
has  been  simply  a business  arrangement,  carried  out  with  the 
spirit  of  commercialism. 

“The  industrial  reconstruction  of  the  world  cannot  be 
carried  forward  under  the  same  economic  principles  that 
ruled  before  the  war;  in  order  that  the  producing  classes 
give  themselves  to  work  it  will  be  necessary  to  emancipate 
them  from  the  parasitism  of  the  unproductive  classes.  It 
seems  to  me  that  this  is  today  the  only  problem  that  interests 
humanity : the  suppressing  of  the  parasites  of  work.  Until 
this  is  done,  with  all  good  faith,  the  world  will  continue  in 
civil  war.  Peace  will  only  come  with  the  triumph  of  justice. 

“I  know  that  these  ideas  are  somewhat  radical,  but  I have 
much  faith  in  them,  and  I believe  that  they  interpret  his- 
torically the  social  reality.  On  the  other  hand  I consider 
that  the  past  economic  regime  has  contributed  to  lowering 
the  morality  of  men,  placing  the  desire  to  enrich  themselves 
above  all  ideals  of  moral  perfection.  As  a consequence  we 
ought  to  expect  the  greatest  benefits  from  those  ideas  which 
tend  to  eliminate  from  society  speculators,  jugglers  in 
finance,  and  parasites  of  all  classes. 

“In  this  city  all  of  the  churches,  either  by  conviction  or 
on  account  of  fear,  take  the  side  of  injustice  and  social  para- 
sitism; the  progressive  part  of  the  youth  and  of  the  people 
themselves  do  not  take  any  interest  in  the  churches,  being 
convinced  that  they  are  instruments  of  the  past  against  the 
future. 

“It  has  seemed  to  me  well  to  give  these  ideas  to  you. 
Here  everything  North  American  is  looked  upon  with  doubt 
because  it  is  believed  that  the  only  object  is  commercial  con- 
quest and  capitalistic  exploitation  of  South  America.  In 
order  to  rectify  this  belief  it  will  be  necessary  to  show  an 
active  sympathy  for  the  new  social  ideas  which  are  agitating 
all  classes  of  people.” 

Notwithstanding  Dr.  Ingenieros’  words,  the  following 
from  one  who  travels  all  over  South  America  and  comes 


264 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


into  contact  especially  with  the  cultured  classes,  should  be 
given  due  consideration: 

“With  the  present  spiritual  unrest,  that  signifies  a deep 
longing  for  something  morally  and  spiritually  better,  and 
with  the  United  States  standing  today  beside  France  in  the 
affections  of  the  South  American  peoples,  one  longs  to  see 
every  North  American  agency  that  can,  make  a genuine 
contribution  to  the  moral  and  spiritual  progress  of  South 
America,  give  itself  whole-heartedly  to  this  opportunity. 
No  such  time  has  existed  since  the  days  following  the  gain- 
ing of  their  political  independence.” 

SOME  DANGERS  GROWING  OUT  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

One  of  the  first  dangers  to  world  peace  to  be  found  in 
Latin  America  would  seem  to  be  that  involved  in  the  trade 
war  to  which  reference  has  already  been  made.  This  trade 
war  will  be  liveliest  as  between  England,  the  United  States, 
Germany  and  Japan.  It  is  not  pleasant  to  refer  to  the  bitter 
feeling  often  generated  by  trade  rivalry  between  Americans 
and  Englishmen  in  Latin  America.  Observers  who  live  in 
South  America,  however,  realize  the  keenness  and  serious- 
ness of  this  rivalry. 

In  connection  with  foreign  trade  another  evil  should  be 
pointed  out,  namely,  a lowering  of  moral  standards  by  those 
who  engage  in  this  keen  commercial  competition.  Many 
report  as  having  a baneful  influence  on  North  America’s 
moral  influence  the  practice  of  some  merchants  in  the  United 
States  of  deceiving  Latin  American  customers  by  furnishing 
goods  inferior  to  those  promised,  and  in  some  instances  prac- 
ticing well  planned  deception.  Many  “war  baby”  export 
enterprises  gave  North  American  business  a bad  name  in 
South  America.  The  inexperience  of  many  of  our  mer- 
chants— stupidity,  Latin  Americans  call  it — in  export  trade 
has  been  at  the  bottom  of  much  misunderstanding.  One 
result  was  to  pile  up,  in  the  port  of  Buenos  Aires  alone,  up 
to  February,  1921,  45  million  dollars  of  North  American 
goods  undelivered  because  of  disputes  and  the  financial 
crisis. 


LATIN  AMERICA  AND  THE  WORLD  WAR  265 


Since,  owing  to  world  conditions,  it  is  the  investors  of  the 
United  States  who  are  most  free  to  extend  their  holdings 
and  to  make  new  investments  in  these  countries  of  the  South, 
there  is  danger  of  the  domination  of  American  financial 
interests  in  the  affairs  of  these  nations. 

Already  there  have  been  upon  the  part  of  our  investors 
several  instances  of  successful  interference  in  Latin  Ameri- 
can affairs,  an  outstanding  illustration  being  the  recent  revo- 
lution in  Costa  Rica,  where  a progressive  president  was 
ousted  largely  through  the  influence  of  certain  American 
financial  interests  who  resented  his  refusal  to  grant  conces- 
sions and  special  privileges  to  them.  In  Cuba,  American 
investors  control  the  economic  life  almost  entirely,  through 
their  investments  in  sugar.  If  Cuba  is  not  to  become  the 
American  Ireland,  careful  consideration  must  be  given  to  the 
obligation  of  the  American  people  for  the  development  of 
her  spiritual  and  educational  life. 

Certain  financial  interests  have  united  in  the  organization 
of  a propaganda  bureau  to  discredit  the  Mexican  Govern- 
ment in  the  United  States.  This  organization  may  claim, 
as  it  has  declared,  that  it  is  not  in  favor  of  armed  interven- 
tion, which  could  only  mean  a war  of  invasion,  but  the  effect 
of  its  propaganda  is  to  persuade  the  American  people  that 
it  is  their  Christian  duty  to  take  charge  of  the  affairs  of 
Mexico.  A superficial  view  makes  the  average  man,  inter- 
ested in  “a  moral  clean-up”  compare  Mexico  with  Cuba  and 
the  Philippines,  forgetting  the  vast  differences  not  only  in 
the  size  of  the  countries,  but  in  the  development  of  their  na- 
tionality, and,  above  all,  the  fact  that  Mexico  is  against  our 
intervening,  whereas  Cuba  welcomed  it  very  warmly  since 
she  needed  help  in  her  struggle  for  independence.  The 
Philippines  are  composed  of  many  separate  peoples,  speaking 
different  languages,  who  have  never  yet  developed  a real 
national  life  or  spirit.  There  rests  upon  the  friends  of  Mex- 
ico a responsibility  not  only  to  make  known  all  the  facts  in 
the  case  but  also  to  take  the  part  of  their  comparatively  weak 
people  when  the  strong  materialistic  and  militaristic  forces 
are  united  against  it.  If  we  fail  to  do  this  in  all  such  cases, 
where  because  of  our  present  outstanding  power  we  have 
much  to  do  with  deciding  the  fate  of  the  smaller  nations, 


266  PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 

they  will  have  little  confidence  in  our  protestations  of  friend- 
ship. 

The  third  danger  growing  out  of  the  war  is  the  fear  that 
the  United  States  will  use  her  military  power  developed  in  the 
World  War  for  imperialistic  purposes  in  Latin  America. 
A former  president  of  Colombia  said  recently  in  a public 
address : “We  glory  in  the  wonderful  idealistic  program  of 
the  United  States  as  carried  out  in  the  World  War.  We  ad- 
mire all  of  her  accomplishments.  We  pay  tribute  to  her 
wonderful  organization  and  the  unselfishness  with  which  she 
has  thrown  herself  into  the  fight  for  democracy  which  is  a 
fight  for  all  of  America.  Yet  we  cannot  fail  to  realize  that 
the  United  States  is  building  up  a powerful  war  machine 
which  might  very  easily  be  turned  upon  her  weaker  neigh- 
bors to  the  South.” 

Unfortunately  there  is  enough  talk  of  “America  First” 
these  days  to  explain  why  our  southern  neighbors  should  at 
times  have  such  fears.  As  President  Lowell  says : 

“Some  Americans,  while  professing  a faith  in  the  right  of 
all  peoples  to  independence  and  self-government,  are  really 
imperialists  at  heart.  They  believe  in  the  right  and  manifest 
destiny  of  the  United  States  to  expand  by  overrunning  its 
weaker  neighbors.  They  appeal  to  a spirit  of  patriotism 
that  sees  no  object,  holds  no  ideals,  and  acknowledges  no 
rights  or  duties,  but  the  national  welfare  and  aggrandize- 
ment. In  the  name  of  that  principle  Germany  sinned  and 
fell.  The  ideas  of  these  American  imperialists  are  less 
grandiose,  but  at  bottom  they  differ  little  from  hers.  It 
would  be  a calamity  if  we  should  have  helped  to  overcome 
Germany  only  to  be  conquered  by  her  theories  and  her 
errors. 

“According  to  that  view  Central  and  South  America  are 
a game  preserve,  from  which  poachers  are  excluded,  but 
where  the  proprietor  may  hunt  as  he  pleases.  Naturally  the 
proprietor  is  anxious  not  only  to  keep  away  the  poachers 
but  to  oppose  game  laws  that  would  interfere  with  his  own 
sport.  With  their  professed  principles  about  protecting  the 
integrity  and  independence  of  small  countries,  the  nations 
that  have  drawn  up  the  Covenant  of  Paris  can  hardly  con- 


LATIN  AMERICA  AND  THE  WORLD  WAR  267 


sent  to  a claim  of  this  kind.  Nor  ought  we  to  demand  it. 
A suspicion  that  this  is  the  real  meaning  of  the  Monroe 
Doctrine  is  the  specter  that  has  prevented  the  great  South 
American  states  from  accepting  the  Doctrine.  It  has  been 
the  chief  obstacle  to  mutual  confidence  and  cordial  relations 
with  them,  and  the  sooner  it  is  definitely  rejected  the  better.” 

A fourth  danger  in  the  present  situation  is  the  new  em- 
phasis on  militarism  and  materialism,  which  in  spite  of  all 
that  has  been  said  concerning  new  desire  for  spiritual  life, 
has  been  felt  by  many  Latin  Americans.  Many  Latin  Amer- 
ican nations  who  have  had  practically  no  army  or  navy  are 
now  considering  it  imperative  to  spend  the  larger  part  of 
their  national  income  on  militarism. 

The  following  is  a summary  of  a reply  to  several  ques- 
tions addressed  to  a prominent  lawyer  and  educator  in  Chile  : 

“First  of  all  the  war’s  lessons  is  that  all  nations  and  prin- 
cipally the  small  ones  must  be  prepared  for  war  on  the  Swiss 
model,  so  that  every  man  and  woman  and  factory  would  be 
a factor  in  war.  The  school  must  be  the  first  step  in  war 
preparation.  Rights  must  be  supported  by  force,  as  force 
has  proved,  once  more,  that  it  is  the  best  defender  of  rights. 
Had  it  not  been  for  their  perfect  military  organizations 
Holland  and  Switzerland  would  have  been  invaded.  If  in- 
ternational wars  come  to  an  end,  they  are  going  to  be  re- 
placed by  internal  wars  headed  by  the  working  classes  against 
capitalism,  and  mankind  will  suffer  more  by  these  than  by 
the  former.” 

This  feeling  of  materialism  is  further  illustrated  by  the 
following  published  words  of  a prominent  Argentine : 

“The  uselessness  of  the  exaggerated  religious  spirit  of 
our  times  is  revealed  by  its  own  inefficiency.  What  use  has 
religion  been  in  the  present  world  conflict?  * * * Religion 
has  not  been  able  to  avert  the  war.  On  the  field  of  battle 
peoples  are  being  massacred  by  those  of  their  own  belief, 
and  they  march  hand  in  hand  with  those  whom  they  be- 
lieved to  be  heretics  but  yesterday.  * * * But  there  must 


268 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


come  out  of  it  all,  as  a logical  consequence  of  the  struggle, 
the  universal  decadence  of  religious  morality,  and,  with  the 
strengthening  of  democracy,  there  will  come  the  implantation 
of  a human  morality.” 

Summing  up,  the  influence  of  the  war  in  Latin  America 
has  been  very  marked  in  industrial,  political  and  spiritual 
ways.  It  has  brought  new  economic  independence,  an 
awakening  of  labor,  and  a new  attention  to  these  countries 
from  the  rest  of  the  world.  A new  friendship  for  the  United 
States  has  been  fostered  and  a new  open-mindedness  and 
spiritual  hunger  have  been  created.  There  have  also  been 
certain  imminent  dangers  created — trade  rivalries,  impe- 
rialistic possibilities,  and  strengthening  of  materialism  and 
militarism.  A correspondent  aptly  puts  the  whole  matter 
as  follows: 

“The  war  has  generated  a vortex  of  questions  which  have 
never  presented  themselves  to  a great  many  before  the  out- 
break of  hostilities.  The  employment  of  force,  the  doctrine 
of  the  universal  brotherhood,  the  ancient  problem  of  ram- 
pant evil,  the  baffling  mystery  of  sacrifice,  the  inevitability 
of  war,  the  relation  of  woman  to  nationhood,  etc.,  have  been 
forced  upon  them.” 

The  Latin  American  nations  have  ceased  to  be  children. 
Formerly  they  have  been  looked  after  by  outside  nations, 
their  finances  have  been  provided  for  them,  their  national 
resources  exploited,  their  intellectual  life  dominated.  The 
war  has  changed  all  this.  Just  as  the  child  who  has  been 
protected  by  others  comes  to  be  thrown  on  his  own  re- 
sources and  is  forced  to  make  his  own  choices,  so  these  young 
nations  are  beginning  to  face  life  with  new  seriousness  and 
new  responsibilities.  As  with  all  young  people  this  will  not 
be  an  unmixed  evil.  They  will  yield  to  many  temptations 
unless  they  have  the  strongest  possible  help  from  their 
matured  friends.  It  is  not  only  a fight  for  supremacy  in 
the  world  of  commerce  that  we  shall  see  taking  place  in 
Latin  America,  but  a fight  for  supremacy  in  the  world  of 
culture  and  morals. 


LATIN  AMERICA  AND  THE  WORLD  WAR  269 


Sources  of  Further  Information  on  Latin  America  and  the 

World  War 

Ingenieros,  Jose:  Los  Tiempos  Nuevos. 

Inman,  Samuel  G. : Intervention  in  Mexico,  Social  and  Religious 
Conditions  in  South  America. 

Kirkpatrick,  F.  A. : South  America  and  the  War. 

Lugones,  Leopoldo:  Mi  Beligirancia. 

Martin,  Percy  A.:  Latin  America  and  the  War,  World  Peace 
Foundation. 

South  American  Opinions  of  the  War,  Carnegie  Endowment  for 
International  Peace. 

The  best  material  is  found  in  the  files  of  the  following  magazines : 
Inter-America,  The  South  American,  Pan  American  Bulletin, 
Hispanic  American,  Historic  Review,  Current  History,  La 
Nueva  Democracia,  La  Reforma  Social. 


Chapter  VIII 

PROBLEMS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN  COUNTRIES 


Few  North  Americans  realize  how  extensively  and  with 
what  rapidity  our  “far-flung  battle-line”  is  growing.  Our 
conception  of  our  native  land  is  generally  limited  to  the 
forty-eight  states  represented  in  our  national  congress.  It 
is  a positive  shock  therefore  for  the  ordinary  North  Ameri- 
can to  travel  through  the  various  Caribbean  countries,  as  I 
have  during  the  last  year,  and  come  face  to  face  with  the  pre- 
dominance of  the  influence  of  the  United  States  in  these  little 
Caribbean  republics  (so-called).  This  influence  has  in- 
creased gradually  but  very  steadily.  As  the  result  of  the 
Spanish- American  War  we  came  into  complete  possession  of 
Porto  Rico.  While  Cuba  was  turned  back  to  her  own  peo- 
ple, by  means  of  the  Platt  Amendment,  we  still  maintain 
virtually  a protectorate  in  that  country  and  own  outright 
a naval  station  at  Guantanamo.  The  war  with  Spain 
showed  the  necessity  of  building  the  Panama  Canal  and  the 
United  States  forced  its  control  over  the  Isthmian  territory 
— as  President  Roosevelt  said : “I  took  Panama.”  The 
Canal  Zone  became  entirely  ours,  with  the  Panamanian  Re- 
public itself  under  our  influence.  In  1912  we  sent  marines 
into  Nicaragua  to  restore  order  and  since  that  time  we  have 
maintained  a garrison  of  at  least  a hundred  marines  in  the 
capital  city,  Managua. 

In  1915,  after  one  of  the  worst  of  Haiti’s  many  distur- 
bances, we  landed  marines  on  that  island,  directed  new  elec- 
tions and  proposed  a treaty  which  gives  us  practical  control 
of  the  country.  A year  later  a revolution  in  Santo  Domingo 
was  the  cause  for  our  landing  marines  there  and  when  the 
government  then  in  power  would  not  agree  to  the  kind  of  a 
treaty  that  the  United  States  desired,  martial  law  was  de- 
clared and  Admiral  Knapp  was  made  Military  Governor. 

270 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN  COUNTRIES  271 


Since  that  time  the  government  of  the  Dominican  Re- 
public has  been  carried  on  by  decrees  of  the  Military  Gov- 
ernor. In  1916  the  United  States  government  purchased 
for  25  million  dollars  the  Virgin  Islands  in  order  that  our 
strategic  position  in  the  West  Indies  might  be  still  more 
secure. 

The  influence  of  the  United  States  has  also  been  extended 
over  most  of  the  other  countries  of  this  area  by  the  new 
Caribbean  policy  begun  during  the  Roosevelt  administration 
and  continued  and  developed  during  that  of  Taft  and  Wil- 
son. This  policy  is  marked  by  a tendency  to  force  peace  and 
order  by  establishing  fiscal  and  police  control,  by  denying 
recognition  to  revolutionary  governments  and  by  blocking 
the  securing  of  financial  aid  from  abroad.  These  means 
were  used  to  restrain  violence  and  irregularities  and  to  main- 
tain progress,  as  the  United  States  understood  that  word. 
It  amounted  to  the  establishment  of  protectorates  over  these 
small,  disturbed  lands,  although  that  term  has  been,  as  far 
as  possible,  avoided.  In  subjecting  them  to  guardianship  or 
tutelage,  the  aim  was  not  to  deprive  them  of  their  sover- 
eignty or  independence,  but  to  extend  needed  help  in  insur- 
ing stability,  solvency,  sanitation,  protection  from  foreign 
creditors  and  general  welfare. 

This  altruism  has  not  been  altogether  appreciated  by  the 
Caribbean  countries.  They  seem  to  think  they  had  rather 
be  rowdy  children  in  their  own  house  than  orderly  children 
in  that  of  someone  else.  On  the  other  hand  the  United  States 
believes  that  we  have  come  to  a time  in  the  world’s  life  when 
continued  disorder  cannot  be  allowed,  both  because  of  its 
dangers  to  the  peace  of  the  United  States  and  to  the  equili- 
brium of  all  international  relations,  economic  as  well  as 
political. 


STRATEGIC  IMPORTANCE 

The  two  most  important  trade  routes  in  the  world  are  the 
Mediterranean  and  the  Caribbean.  The  former  has  seen  the 
greatest  play  of  the  world’s  forces  of  any  body  of  water  in 
the  world  up  to  the  present  time.  The  two  great  twin  seas, 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the  Caribbean  Sea,  are  destined  pos- 


272 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


sibly  to  become  more  vital  even  than  the  Mediterranean  in 
their  effect  upon  the  commerce  and  civilization  of  the  world. 

The  strategic  importance  of  the  West  Indies  has  been 
recognized  by  the  political  leaders  of  the  United  States  ever 
since  the  beginning  of  the  Republic.  The  story  of  our 
endeavors  to  secure  the  control  of  Cuba  extends  back  to  the 
beginning  of  the  Nineteenth  Century.  President  Madison 
in  1810  declared  the  deep  interest  of  the  United  States.  It 
was  feared  that  when  he  became  possessed  of  Florida, 
Great  Britain  would  secure  Cuba,  but  this  did  not  come  to 
pass.  There  was  some  sentiment  in  the  United  States  in 
favor  of  its  annexation  and  John  Quincy  Adams  in  1823 
said : “In  looking  forward  to  the  probable  course  of  events 
* * * it  seems  scarcely  possible  to  resist  the  conviction  that 
the  annexation  of  Cuba  to  the  Federal  Republic  will  be 
indispensable  to  the  continuance  and  integrity  of  the  Union 
itself.”  Jefferson  said  in  1823  : “Cuba  alone  seems  to  hold 
up  a speck  of  war  to  us.  Its  possession  by  Great  Britain 
would  indeed  be  a calamity  to  us.”  He  advocated  procuring 
possession  of  it. 

Mexico  and  Colombia  determined  to  seize  Cuba  for  de- 
fense if  war  continued  with  Spain,  and  in  1825  the  United 
States  undertook  to  get  Spain  to  acknowledge  the  inde- 
pendence of  these  colonies,  and,  in  order  that  these  attempts 
might  not  be  thwarted,  at  the  same  time  endeavored  to  in- 
duce Mexico  and  Colombia  to  withhold  attack  on  Cuba. 

The  Cuban  question  was  prominent  in  debate  about  send- 
ing delegates  to  Panama  Congress  in  1826.  Sending  of 
delegates  would  imply  a change  of  attitude  toward  Cuba  and 
Porto  Rico,  which  the  United  States  had  said  she  wished  to 
remain  part  of  Spain. 

The  southern  members  of  Congress  were  opposed  to  re- 
lations with  the  southern  republics  because  they  had  adopted 
the  principle  of  emancipation  and  their  influence  would 
jeopardize  slavery  in  the  United  States.  For  the  same  rea- 
son they  were  opposed  to  the  transfer  of  Cuba  to  any  Euro- 
pean country.  Spain  was  assured  of  the  help  of  the  United 
States  in  case  other  nations  should  attack  Cuba. 

After  the  Mexican  War  the  idea  of  natural  expansion 
and  “Manifest  Destiny”  took  hold  of  the  United  States, 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN  COUNTRIES  273 


and  many  bold  schemes  were  advanced  for  securing  Cuba 
and  extending  our  territory  southward. 

With  the  same  idea  of  strategy,  President  Grant  proposed 
to  the  Senate  the  annexation  of  Santo  Domingo  at  the  bar- 
gain price  of  $1,500,000.  Among  his  arguments  submitted 
to  Congress  were  the  following: 

“The  acquisition  of  Santo  Domingo  is  desirable  because 
of  its  geographical  position.  It  commands  the  entrance  to 
the  Caribbean  Sea  and  the  Isthmus  transit  of  commerce.  It 
possesses  the  richest  soil,  the  most  capacious  harbors,  most 
salubrious  climate  and  the  most  valuable  products  of  the 
forests,  mines  and  soil  of  all  the  West  Indian  Islands.  Its 
possession  by  us  will  in  a few  years  build  up  a coastwise 
commerce  of  immense  magnitude,  which  will  go  far  toward 
restoring  to  us  our  lost  merchant  marine.  It  will  give  to 
us  these  articles  which  we  consume  so  largely  and  do  not 
produce,  thus  equalizing  our  imports  and  exports.  In  case  of 
foreign  war  it  will  give  us  command  of  all  the  islands  re- 
ferred to  and  thus  prevent  an  enemy  from  ever  possessing 
himself  of  rendezvous  on  our  very  coast.  At  present  our  coast 
trade  on  the  Atlantic  is  cut  by  the  Bahamas  and  Antilles. 
Twice  we  must,  as  it  were,  pass  through  foreign  countries  to 
get  by  sea  from  Georgia  to  the  west  coast  of  Florida. 

“Santo  Domingo,  with  a stable  government  under  which 
her  immense  resources  can  be  developed,  will  give  remunera- 
tive wages  for  tens  of  thousands  of  laborers  not  now  on  the 
island.  This  labor  will  take  advantage  of  every  means  of 
transportation  to  maintain  the  adjacent  islands  and  seek  the 
blessings  of  freedom  and  its  sequence — each  inhabitant  re- 
ceiving the  reward  of  his  own  labor.” 

When  the  treaty  was  opposed  by  Sumner,  Grant  said: 
“If  we  abandon  the  project  I now  firmly  believe  that  a free 
port  will  be  negotiated  for  by  European  nations  in  the  Bay 
of  Samana.” 

In  the  same  way  the  deciding  argument  that  was  said  to 
weigh  with  President  Wilson  in  the  purchase  of  the  Danish 
Islands  was  the  report  that  Germany  was  ready  to  buy  them, 
even  in  the  midst  of  the  World  War. 


274  PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 

In  the  same  way  the  United  States  has  seen  the  impor- 
tance of  Central  America,  especially  Panama  and  Nicaragua, 
and,  since  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California  when  these 
two  routes  were  used  by  American  travelers,  has  kept  a care- 
ful eye  on  these  canal  routes  as  being  imperative  for  us  to 
control. 

ECONOMIC  REASONS 

In  recent  years  the  economic  importance  of  the  Caribbean 
countries  has  become  increasingly  evident.  The  land  area, 
consisting  of  the  West  Indian  Islands,  the  Guianas,  Vene- 
zuela, Colombia,  Central  America  and  Mexico,  has  already 
an  annual  commerce  of  approximately  $2,000,000,000.  And 
this  is  only  the  beginning  of  the  producing  power  of  this 
wonderful  area.  The  area  of  the  thirty  islands  and  countries 
lying  within  or  adjacent  to  the  waters  of  the  Caribbean  and 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico  is  about  2,000,000  square  miles,  its 
present  population  approximately  40,000,000,  its  1918  im- 
ports $700,000,000,  and  its  exports  $900,000,000  in  value. 

The  growth  of  trade  between  the  United  States  and  the 
land  area  fronting  upon  the  Caribbean  and  Gulf  of  Mexico 
has  been  rapid,  especially  in  recent  years.  It  totalled  in  1900, 
$195,000,000,  in  1910,  $392,000,000,  in  1919,  $1,005,- 
000,000.  The  imports  from  the  countries  in  question  were 
in  1900,  $100,000,000,  in  1910,  $223,000,000,  in  1919, 
$520,000,000,  and  the  exports  to  those  countries  and  islands 
in  1900,  $95,000,000,  in  1910,  $169,000,000,  and  in  1919, 
$485,000,000. 

Not  only  is  our  trade  with  the  countries  in  question  grow- 
ing rapidly,  but  the  share  which  we  supply  of  their  imports  is 
steadily  increasing  in  practically  all  cases.  The  share  sup- 
plied by  the  United  States  of  the  imports  of  Cuba,  as  shown 
by  the  official  figures  of  that  government,  was  in  1914,  58%, 
in  1918,  76%;  of  Santo  Domingo  in  1913,  62%,  in  1918, 
93%;  of  Haiti  in  1913,  59%,  in  1919,  90%;  of  Mexico  in 
1913,  48%,  in  1919,  85%;  of  Colombia  in  1913,  28%,  in 
1919,  49%  ; of  Venezuela,  in  1914,  43%,  in  1918,  50%  ; of 
Costa  Rica,  in  1914,  53%,  in  1918,  61%;  of  Guatemala,  in 
1913,  50%,  in  1918,  66%;  of  Honduras,  in  1914,  7 9%,  in 
1918,  82%  ; of  Nicaragua,  in  1914,  62%,  in  1918,  71%  ; of 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN  COUNTRIES  275 


Panama  in  1914,  41%,  in  1918,  87%;  of  Salvador  (which, 
wThile  not  fronting  upon  the  Caribbean,  is  so  closely  associ- 
ated with  the  other  Central  American  countries  as  to  justify 
its  inclusion  in  this  discussion),  in  1914,  41%,  in  1918,  65%. 

These  facts  as  to  the  producing  power,  present  and  pros- 
pective, of  the  land  area  touching  the  waters  of  the  Carib- 
bean and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  are  especially  important  to  the 
United  States,  both  as  to  the  present  and  to  the  future.  All 
of  this  area  just  described — the  islands  of  these  tropical 
waters  and  the  lands  fronting  upon  it — produces,  almost 
exclusively,  tropical  growths : — sugar,  coffee,  cacao,  tobacco, 
fruits,  nuts,  sisal,  cotton,  rubber,  balata,  cabinet  woods,  dye 
woods,  cocoanuts,  and  many  other  oil  nuts  and  seeds,  as 
well  as  many  other  articles  which  the  temperate  zone  de- 
mands— must  have,  in  fact.  In  exchange  they  must  have 
certain  temperate  zone  products,  meats,  breadstuffs,  cloth- 
ing, and  manufactures  of  all  kinds,  for  the  manufacturing 
industries  do  not  thrive  in  the  tropics.  As  a consequence  of 
this  condition,  the  Caribbean  countries  must  look  to  some 
part  of  the  temperate  zone  as  a market  for  their  products 
and  also  as  a market  in  which  to  buy  their  requirements  of 
food  and  clothing  and  manufactures,  and  they  naturally 
prefer  to  sell  their  goods  on  the  nearest  possible  markets  and 
to  purchase  their  requirements  in  the  nearest  possible 
markets. 

CUBA 

We  have  already  referred  to  the  interest  that  the  United 
States  had  in  Cuba  since  the  beginning  of  the  Spanish-Amer- 
ican  struggle  for  liberty.  After  the  Civil  War  the  main 
object  of  our  Cuban  diplomacy  was  the  extension  of  com- 
mercial relations  with  the  island  and  the  protection  of  Amer- 
ican interests.  The  “Ten  Years’  War”  in  Cuba,  from  1868 
to  1878,  was  characterized  by  great  cruelty,  destruction  of 
property,  and  irregular  methods  of  warfare,  and  imposed 
grave  responsibilities  upon  the  United  States.  President 
Grant  seriously  considered,  and  even  threatened,  interven- 
tion, and  intervention  at  this  time  would  probably  have  meant 
annexation ; but  such  action  was  postponed,  and  peace  was 
finally  restored  as  a result  of  the  exhaustion  of  both  parties 


276 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


and  the  promise  of  definite  reforms  by  Spain.  The  prom- 
ised reforms  were  not  carried  out  in  good  faith;  the  old 
policy  of  exploitation  was  continued. 

Finally  in  February,  1895,  the  last  insurrection  against 
Spanish  rule  began,  and  soon  developed  the  same  features 
as  the  “Ten  Years’  War.”  Both  sides  were  guilty  of  out- 
rages, and  conditions  became  so  distressing  that  the  United 
States  was  led  to  intervene  in  1898  and  secure  Cuba’s  inde- 
pendence. 

Unquestionably  one  of  the  finest  chapters  in  United  States 
history  is  that  dealing  with  the  liberation  and  modernizing 
of  Cuba.  While  we  may  frankly  admit  that  we  have  had  a 
selfish  interest  in  Cuba,  because  of  its  strategic  position,  yet 
this  does  not  take  away  the  glory  of  the  service  rendered 
that  country.  For  no  one  who  knows  the  North  American 
people  can  fail  to  appreciate  their  altruistic  motives  in  free- 
ing oppressed  neighbors.  Unfortunately  the  rest  of  the 
world  has  not  however  generally  appreciated  this  service, 
often  alleging  that,  while  partial  political  liberty  was  granted, 
commercial  advantages,  the  real  thing  desired,  have  not  been 
attained  and  Cuba  has  been  abused. 

There  is  necessity  for  North  Americans,  while  priding 
themselves  on  their  service  to  Cuba,  to  look  carefully  to  the 
use  of  our  influence  over  the  island,  that  it  may  be  for  her 
good  and  not  for  our  self-aggrandizement.  By  means  of 
the  Platt  Amendment,  we  hold  large  power  over  the  political 
life  of  Cuba.  This  has  been  generally  a blessing,  but  it  could 
easily  become  a power  to  help  the  few  exploit  the  many.  As 
regards  economic  life,  Cuba  is  held  in  the  hollow  of  our 
hand.  Her  two  great  crops  of  sugar  and  tobacco  are  so 
vital  to  us  that  we  have  come  to  control  them.  Since  she' 
produces  so  few  things  and  sells  them  practically  all  to  us, 
she  must  depend  on  us  not  only  for  manufactured  goods  but 
very  largely  for  foodstuffs  also.  The  extensive  develop- 
ment of  an  absentee  landlord  system  could  easily  produce  an 
American  Ireland  for  the  United  States.  To  prevent  this  we 
must  bend  our  energies  to  help  Cuba  develop  the  education  of 
her  people  so  that  strong  character  will  work  out  the  prob- 
lems of  self-government,  diversified  crops,  honesty  in  ad- 
ministration,— and  personal  sacrifice  for  national  good. 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN  COUNTRIES  277 

The  key  to  the  relationships  between  the  United  States  and 
Cuba  is  found  in  the  famous  “Platt  Amendment,”  which,  at 
the  urgency  of  the  United  States  government,  was  adopted 
by  the  Cuban  Convention  as  follows : 

“( i ) That  the  Government  of  Cuba  shall  never  enter  into 
any  treaty  or  other  compact  with  any  foreign  Power  or 
Powers  which  will  impair  or  tend  to  impair  the  independence 
of  Cuba,  nor  in  any  manner  authorize  or  permit  any  foreign 
power  or  powers  to  obtain  by  colonization  or  for  military 
or  naval  purposes,  or  otherwise,  lodgment  in  or  control  over 
any  portion  of  said  island. 

“(2)  That  said  Government  shall  not  assume  or  contract 
any  public  debt,  to  pay  the  interest  upon  which  and  to  make 
reasonable  sinking-fund  provision  for  the  ultimate  discharge 
of  which,  the  ordinary  revenues  of  the  island,  after  defray- 
ing the  current  expenses  of  government,  shall  be  inadequate. 

“(3)  That  the  Government  of  Cuba  consents  that  the 
United  States  may  exercise  the  right  to  intervene  for  the 
preservation  of  Cuban  independence,  the  maintenance  of  a 
government  adequate  for  the  protection  of  life,  property, 
and  individual  liberty,  for  discharging  the  obligations  with 
respect  to  Cuba  imposed  by  the  Treaty  of  Paris  on  the 
United  States,  now  to  be  assumed  and  undertaken  by  the 
Government  of  Cuba. 

“(4)  That  all  acts  of  the  United  States  in  Cuba  during  its 
military  occupation  thereof  are  ratified  and  validated,  and 
all  lawful  rights  acquired  thereunder  shall  be  maintained 
and  protected. 

“(5)  That  the  Government  of  Cuba  will  execute,  and  as 
far  as  necessary  extend,  the  plans  already  devised  or  other 
plans  to  be  mutually  agreed  upon,  for  the  sanitation  of  the 
cities  of  the  island,  to  the  end  that  a recurrence  of  epidemic 
and  infectious  diseases  may  be  prevented,  thereby  assuring 
protection  to  the  people  and  commerce  of  Cuba,  as  well  as 
to  the  commerce  of  the  southern  ports  of  the  United  States 
and  the  people  residing  therein. 

“(6)  That  the  Isle  of  Pines  shall  be  omitted  from  the 
proposed  constitutional  boundaries  of  Cuba,  the  title  thereto 
left  to  future  adjustment  by  treaty. 


278 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


“(7)  That  to  enable  the  United  States  to  maintain  the 
independence  of  Cuba,  and  to  protect  the  people  thereof,  as 
well  as  for  its  own  defence,  the  Government  of  Cuba  will 
sell  or  lease  to  the  United  States  lands  necessary  for  coaling 
or  naval  stations  at  certain  specified  points  to  be  agreed  upon 
with  the  President  of  the  United  States. 

“(8)  That  by  way  of  further  assurance  the  Government 
of  Cuba  will  embody  the  foregoing  provisions  in  a perma- 
nent treaty  with  the  United  States.” 

PANAMA 

The  digging  of  a canal  across  Panama  was  first  planned 
by  the  Spaniards  in  early  colonial  history.  The  United 
States  early  entered  into  discussion  of  the  project  with  Co- 
lombia and  Great  Britain.  The  Clayton-Bulwer  convention 
of  1850  provided  for  a canal  constructed  by  private  capital 
and  under  the  political  control  of  Great  Britain  and  the 
United  States,  and  such  other  powers  as  might  unite  with 
them  in  guaranteeing  its  complete  neutralization.  The  or- 
ganization of  a French  company  by  De  Lesseps,  and  the 
prospect  of  the  speedy  construction  of  a canal  at  Panama 
under  French  auspices,  led  to  the  change  of  policy  announced 
by  President  Flayes,  when  he  declared  in  1880  that  any  canal 
that  might  be  constructed  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
oceans  should  be  under  American  control;  and  that  the  line 
of  such  canal  should  be  considered  “a  part  of  the  coast  line 
of  the  United  States.” 

But  Great  Britain  refused  to  waive  her  rights  provided  by 
treaty  and  Secretary  Olney  declared  in  1896  that  the  only 
way  to  modify  the  stipulations  of  1850  was  through  a direct 
appeal  to  Great  Britain  for  a reconsideration  of  the  whole 
matter.  This  was  done  by  Secretary  Hay,  who  undertook, 
in  1899,  to  negotiate  a new  arrangement  with  Great  Britain, 
resulting  in  the  Hay-Pauncefote  treaty.  After  many  strug- 
gles and  changes  this  treaty  was  ratified  December  16,  1901. 
The  new  treaty  abrogated  in  express  terms  the  Clayton- 
Bulwer  agreement  and  provided  that  the  United  States 
might  construct  a canal  under  its  own  auspices  and  under  its 
exclusive  management. 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN  COUNTRIES  279 


Senator  Hanna  was  largely  responsible  for  the  selection 
of  the  Panama  route  over  Nicaragua.  After  an  investiga- 
tion of  the  affairs  of  the  Panama  Canal  Company,  Attorney- 
General  Knox  reported  that  it  could  give  a clear  title.  Nego- 
tiations between  Secretary  Hay  and  Mr.  Herran,  the  Co- 
lombian charge  d’affaires,  resulted,  after  considerable  delay, 
in  the  signature,  January  22,  1903,  of  the  Hay-Herran  con- 
vention, by  the  terms  of  which  the  United  States  agreed  to 
pay  Colombia  10  million  dollars  cash  and  an  annuity  of 
250  thousand  dollars  for  the  lease  of  a strip  of  land  six  miles 
wide  across  the  isthmus.  The  United  States  was  so  anxious 
for  the  immediate  building  of  the  canal  that  Colombia  was 
warned  that  the  treaty  must  be  passed  “without  amendment 
whatever,”  and  that  rejection  or  delay  might  seriously  com- 
promise the  friendly  feelings  between  the  two  countries. 

The  Colombian  Congress  met  in  extra  session  June  20 
mainly  for  the  purpose  of  considering  this  treaty.  When  the 
vote  was  finally  taken  August  12  the  treaty  was  rejected  by 
the  unanimous  vote  of  all  the  senators  present.  President 
Roosevelt  later  declared  that  this  action  was  due  to  the 
“anti-social  spirit”  of  Colombia  and  to  the  cupidity  of  the 
government  leaders,  who  proposed  to  wait  until  they  could 
confiscate  the  40  million  dollars  worth  of  property  belonging 
to  the  French  company  and  then  sell  it  to  the  United  States. 
However,  Mr.  Beaupre,  the  American  Minister,  repeatedly 
warned  Secretary  Hay  that  there  was  a “tremendous  tide 
of  public  opinion  against  the  canal  treaty,”  which  even  the 
Colombian  government  could  not  ignore.  The  people  of 
Colombia  felt  that  Panama  was  their  greatest  asset.  They 
knew  perfectly  well  that,  in  spite  of  threats  to  the  contrary, 
President  Roosevelt  was  determined  not  to  adopt  the  alterna- 
tive of  the  Spooner  amendment  and  go  to  Nicaragua;  con- 
sequently they  opposed  the  treaty  with  the  expectation  that 
they  could  get  better  terms,  and  particularly  that  they  might 
reserve  a fuller  measure  of  sovereignty  over  the  isthmus. 
The  difficulty  in  securing  the  assent  of  the  Colombian  Senate 
to  a treaty  arranged  by  the  Department  of  Foreign  Relations 
should  be  well  understood  by  those  North  Americans  who 
remember  the  opposition  of  their  own  Senate  to  almost  every 
treaty  prepared  by  the  Executive  Department. 


280 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


The  people  of  Panama  considered  that  the  failure  of  Co- 
lombia to  sign  the  treaty  was  a sacrifice  of  their  interests. 
Dr.  Manuel  Amador  visited  the  United  States  and  had  con- 
ference with  William  Nelson  Cromwell  and  with  Secretary 
Hay  concerning  the  advisability  of  Panama’s  revolting.  The 
latter  was  of  course  guarded  in  his  replies,  but  outlined  what 
he  considered  the  rights  and  duties  of  the  United  States 
under  the  treaty  of  1846.  Dr.  Amador  was  greatly  encour- 
aged at  this  time  by  the  sudden  arrival  in  New  York  of 
Philippe  Bunau-Varilla,  the  former  chief  engineer  of  the 
French  company,  who  entered  with  enthusiasm  into  the 
revolutionary  project. 

Soon  after  Amador  returned  to  Panama  the  gun-boat 
Nashville  arrived  off  Colon.  The  Boston,  Dixie  and  Atlanta 
had  also  received  orders  to  proceed  “within  easy  distance  of 
the  isthmus,  in  the  event  of  need  arising.”  Two  days  after 
the  Colombian  Congress  had  adjourned  orders  were  cabled 
to  the  American  naval  commanders  to  keep  the  transit  open 
and  to  “prevent  the  landing  of  any  armed  force  with  hostile 
intent,  either  government  or  insurgent,  at  any  point  within 
50  miles  of  Panama.”  It  can  hardly  be  denied  that  this  was 
creating  a situation  very  favorable  to  revolution. 

The  revolutionists  were  slow  in  taking  advantage  of  their 
opportunities,  seemingly  causing  impatience  in  Washington. 
At  3 140  p.m.,  November  3,  the  following  dispatch  was  sent 
to  the  American  consuls  at  Panama  and  Colon : “Uprising 
on  Isthmus  reported.  Keep  Department  promptly  and  fully 
informed.  Loomis,  Acting.”  At  8:15  p.m.  a reply  was 
received  from  Consul  Ehrman  at  Panama:  “No  uprising 
yet.  Reported  will  be  in  the  night.  Situation  is  critical.” 
At  9:50  p.m.  a second  dispatch  was  received  from  the  same 
source:  “Uprising  occurred  to-night,  6;  no  bloodshed.  Army 
and  Navy  officials  taken  prisoners.  Government  will  be  or- 
ganized to-night.” 

The  few  Colombian  troops  on  the  Isthmus  were  reem- 
barked after  their  officers  had  received  a generous  bribe,  and 
the  marines,  landed  from  the  United  States  gun-boat  Nash- 
ville, maintained  order.  Just  four  days  later  the  United 
States  government  recognized  the  Republic  of  Panama,  and 
a week  later  the  Minister  of  the  Panama  Republic,  being  in 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN  COUNTRIES  281 


Washington  when  appointed,  was  received  by  President 
Roosevelt.  This  unprecedented  haste  tended  to  give  color 
to  the  rumors  that  the  whole  affair  had  been  prearranged. 

An  interesting  discussion  of  the  Panama  question  ap- 
peared in  the  Review  of  Reviews  for  November,  1903. 
Dr.  Albert  Shaw,  a close  personal  friend  of  President  Roose- 
velt, published  an  article  entitled,  “What  If  Panama  Should 
Revolt?”  and  outlined  with  remarkable  prophetic  insight 
what  actually  took  place  later.  It  transpired  afterward  that 
this  editorial  had  been  inspired  by  the  following  letter  which 
he  had  received  from  the  President,  dated  October  10th: 
“My  dear  Dr.  Shaw : I enclose  you,  purely  for  your  own  in- 
formation, a copy  of  a letter  from  our  Minister  to  Colombia. 
I think  it  might  interest  you  to  see  that  there  was  absolutely 
not  the  slightest  chance  of  securing  by  treaty  any  more  than 
we  endeavored  to  secure.  The  alternatives  were  to  go  to 
Nicaragua,  against  the  advice  of  the  great  majority  of 
competent  engineers — some  of  the  most  competent  saying 
that  we  had  better  have  no  canal  at  any  time  than  go  there — 
or  else  to  take  the  territory  by  force  without  any  attempt  at 
getting  a treaty.  I cast  aside  the  proposition  at  this  time  to 
foment  the  secession  of  Panama.  Whatever  other  govern- 
ments can  do,  the  United  States  can  not  go  into  the  securing, 
by  such  underhand  means,  the  cession.  Privately,  I freely 
say  to  you  that  I should  be  delighted  if  Panama  were  an 
independent  state,  or  if  it  made  itself  so  at  this  moment ; but 
for  me  to  say  so  publicly  would  amount  to  an  instigation  of  a 
revolt  and  therefore  I cannot  say  it.” 

President  Roosevelt  justified  the  course  of  the  adminis- 
tration by  showing  the  ingratitude  of  Colombia  for  the  work 
of  the  United  States  in  maintaining  order  on  the  isthmus 
for  over  fifty  years  under  the  treaty  of  1846,  and  her  utter 
inability  to  control  the  situation  and  prevent  riot  and  revo- 
lution. In  a special  message  to  Congress  on  January  4, 
1904,  the  President  held  that  Colombia  was  not  entitled  “to 
bar  the  transit  of  the  world’s  traffic  across  the  isthmus,”  and 
that  the  intervention  of  the  United  States  was  justified — 
(1)  by  our  treaty  rights,  (2)  by  our  national  interests,  and 
(3)  by  the  interests  of  collective  civilization. 

The  majority  of  the  people  of  the  United  States,  as  well 


282  PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 

as  those  of  Latin  America,  have  undoubtedly  felt  that  all 
was  not  right  with  the  way  the  Panama  Canal  Zone  was 
secured.  So,  after  an  agitation  of  many  years,  a treaty  with 
Colombia,  which  had  been  held  in  the  Foreign  Relations 
Committee  since  1914,  was  finally  passed  by  the  United 
States  Senate,  April  19,  1921,  which  agrees  to  pay  Co- 
lombia the  sum  of  25  million  dollars  for  the  Panama 
strip,  said  sum  to  be  invested  in  certain  public  works. 
Thus,  let  us  hope,  the  world  may  see  that,  whether  or  not 
there  was  justification  for  taking  by  high-handed  means  a 
piece  of  land  for  the  service  of  humanity,  at  least  we  are 
ready  to  pay  a money  value  to  the  original  owners  for  that 
which  was  expropriated.  Without  doing  so  the  United 
States  could  never  have  stood  right  in  the  minds  of  her 
Hispanic  American  neighbors.  The  writer  was  in  South 
America  when  the  treaty  was  passed  and  was  able  to  ob- 
serve the  universal  satisfaction  with  which  the  report  of 
the  Senate’s  action  was  received. 

SANTO  DOMINGO 

It  is  in  Santo  Domingo  that  the  United  States  Government 
has  taken  more  complete  control  of  the  government  than  in 
any  other  Caribbean  country.  Reference  has  already  been 
made  to  the  request  of  the  people  of  Santo  Domingo  for 
annexation  to  the  United  States  and  President  Grant’s  efforts 
toward  the  same  end.  In  1904  relations  with  Santo  Do- 
mingo again  became  critical,  because  of  the  demands  of 
European  creditors.  Protocols  for  the  settlement  of  debts 
had  been  signed  with  Germany,  Spain  and  Italy  and  these 
governments  were  about  to  make  effective  by  force  the  col- 
lection of  these  debts.  The  government  of  Santo  Domingo 
appealed  to  the  United  States  for  assistance  and  a plan  was 
worked  out  whereby  North  American  agents  were  to  take 
charge  of  the  customs  and  finances  of  the  country.  In  spite 
of  the  refusal  of  the  United  States  Senate  to  approve  the 
plan,  President  Roosevelt,  as  Commander  of  the  Navy,  put 
it  into  effect.  Two  years  later  the  Senate,  seeing  that  the 
matter  was  being  carried  out  anyway,  decided  that  it  would 
be  better  to  make  it  formal  and  a treaty  was  signed  by  the 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN  COUNTRIES  283 


two  governments  authorizing  the  arrangements.  The  results 
were  most  satisfactory  in  that  the  interest  on  the  debts, 
which  had  been  funded  together,  was  paid  and  a fixed  sink- 
ing fund  was  augmented  annually  by  which  the  principal  was 
to  be  covered. 

It  was  hoped  that  this  arrangement  would  also  entirely  do 
away  with  revolutionary  movements,  the  theory  being  that 
revolutions  all  revolved  around  the  custom  houses,  which 
held  the  country’s  revenues.  These  hopes  were  not  to  be 
realized  for  disturbances  broke  out  to  such  an  extent  in  May 
of  1916,  that  some  1,800  United  States  marines  were  landed 
in  two  divisions.  Those  of  the  north  fought  their  way 
across  the  island  until  they  joined  their  companions  at  the 
capital  in  the  south,  who  had  been  able  to  take  charge  with 
less  difficulty.  The  United  States  Naval  authorities  came 
into  conflict  with  the  Dominican  civil  authorities  and,  in 
order  to  break  the  deadlock,  Rear-Admiral  Knapp  declared 
the  country  under  military  rule  of  the  United  States  in  a 
proclamation  dated  November  29,  1916.  The  following  is 
a part  of  the  proclamation: 

“Whereas  a treaty  was  concluded  between  the  United 
States  and  the  Republic  of  Santo  Domingo  on  February  8, 
1907,  article  3 of  which  reads : 

“ ‘III.  Until  the  Dominican  Republic  has  paid  the  whole 
amount  of  the  bonds  of  the  debt,  its  public  debt  shall  not 
be  increased,  except  by  previous  agreement  between  the 
Dominican  Government  and  the  United  States.  A like 
agreement  shall  be  necessary  to  modify  the  import  duties,  it 
being  an  indispensable  condition  for  the  modification  of  such 
duties  that  the  Dominican  Executive  demonstrate  and  that 
the  President  of  the  United  States  recognize  that,  on  the 
basis  of  exportations  and  importations  to  the  like  amount  and 
the  like  character  during  the  two  years  preceding  that  in 
which  it  is  desired  to  make  such  modification,  the  total  net 
customs  receipts  would  at  such  altered  rates  of  duties  have 
been  for  each  of  such  two  years  in  excess  of  the  sum  of 
$2,000,000  United  States  gold.’ 

“Whereas  the  government  of  Santo  Domingo  has  violated 
article  3 on  more  than  one  occasion  and 


284- 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


“Whereas  the  Government  of  Santo  Domingo  has  from 
time  to  time  explained  the  violation  by  the  necessity  of  in- 
curring expenses  incident  to  the  repression  of  revolution, 
and 

“Whereas  the  United  States  Government,  with  great  for- 
bearance and  a friendly  desire  to  enable  Santo  Domingo  to 
maintain  domestic  tranquillity  and  to  observe  the  terms  of 
the  aforesaid  treaty,  has  urged  upon  the  Government  of 
Santo  Domingo  certain  necessary  measures  which  that 
Government  has  been  unwilling  or  unable  to  adopt,  and 

“Whereas  the  Government  of  the  United  States  has  deter- 
mined that  the  time  has  come  to  take  measures  to  assure 
the  observance  of  the  aforesaid  treaty  by  the  Santo  Do- 
mingan Republic  and  to  maintain  the  domestic  tranquillity  in 
the  said  Republic  of  Santo  Domingo  necessary  thereto. 

“Now,  therefore,  I,  H.  S.  Knapp,  Captain  of  United 
States  Navy,  Commander  of  the  cruiser  force  of  the  United 
States  Atlantic  fleet  and  the  armed  forces  of  the  United 
States  stationed  in  various  places  within  the  territory  of  the 
Republic  of  Santo  Domingo,  acting  under  the  authority 
and  by  the  direction  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States, 
declare  and  announce  to  all  concerned  that  the  Republic  of 
Santo  Domingo  is  hereby  placed  in  a state  of  military  oc- 
cupancy by  the  forces  under  my  command,  is  made  subject 
to  military  government  and  to  the  exercise  of  military  law 
applicable  to  such  occupation. 

“The  military  occupation  is  undertaken  with  no  immediate 
or  ulterior  object  of  destroying  the  sovereignty  of  the  Re- 
public of  Santo  Domingo,  but,  on  the  contrary,  is  designed 
to  give  aid  to  that  country  in  returning  to  a condition  of 
internal  order  that  will  enable  it  to  observe  the  terms  of  the 
treaty  aforesaid  and  the  obligations  resting  upon  it  as  one 
of  the  family  of  nations.” 

There  follow  five  other  paragraphs,  stating  that  the  courts 
will  not  be  disturbed,  revenues  will  be  paid  by  the  Receiver 
to  the  military  government  (to  be  held  in  trust  for  the  Re- 
public), calling  on  all  to  cooperate  in  restoring  order,  and 
stating  that  the  United  States  would  act  under  military  law 
governing  their  conduct,  all  signed  by  Commander  H.  S. 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN  COUNTRIES  285 


Knapp,  on  the  U.  S.  S.  Olympia,  flagship,  November  29, 
1916. 

Since  that  date  the  government  of  Santo  Domingo  has 
been  absolutely  in  the  hands  of  the  military  forces  of  the 
United  States.  How  absolutely  one  is  not  prepared  to  ap- 
preciate until  he  goes  to  the  country.  A Rear-Admiral  of 
the  United  States  Navy  is  the  President  of  the  Republic 
and  his  cabinet  is  made  up  of  officers  of  the  United  States 
Marine  Corps.  There  is  not  a semblance  of  a Dominican 
legislative  body.  The  following  is  the  Executive  Order  of 
December  26,  1916,  suspending  the  Congress: 

“1.  That  the  sessions  of  the  Dominican  Congress  are 
suspended  until  after  elections  shall  have  been  ordered  and 
held  to  fill  vacancies  now  existing. 

“2.  That  the  senators  and  deputies  whose  terms  have  not 
expired  are  likewise  expelled  from  office  until  the  full  Con- 
gress shall  have  been  called  into  session,  and  that  their 
emoluments  shall  cease.” 

The  laws  are  proclamations  by  the  military  authorities 
and  are  enforced  by  the  1,500  marines  in  the  country  and  the 
national  gendarmerie,  made  up  of  natives  officered  by  en- 
listed men  of  the  Marine  Corps. 

These  American  military  forces,  many  of  whom  are  fac- 
ing an  entirely  new  experience  with  honest  purpose  of  help- 
ing the  people,  have  a difficult  task  before  them.  Since 
Columbus  was  imprisoned  in  the  fort  of  her  capital  city,  the 
history  of  Santo  Domingo  has  been  a sad  one.  Nowhere  is 
the  rise,  decline  and  fall  of  Spanish  colonial  power  so  vividly 
exemplified  as  in  Santo  Domingo  with  its  history  teeming 
with  great  names  and  with  deeds  now  bloody,  now  paltry, 
with  conquest  and  quarrels,  discovery  and  piracy,  with  ex- 
ploits and  exploitation,  slavery  and  revolution.  Nowhere 
was  there  builded  into  the  foundations  of  the  civil  structure 
that  love  of  home,  of  popular  education  and  of  equality 
before  the  law  that  have  given  to  the  United  States  what- 
ever of  stability  its  institutions  may  boast.  Religious  zeal 
was  there,  but  it  was  exotic  and  misguided,  seeking  its  finest 
expression  in  a monasticism  that  contributed  little  more  than 


286 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


faint  intermittent  protests  against  the  general  decay  of  popu- 
lar morals  caused  largely  by  the  brutal  exploiting  of  subject 
peoples  in  the  general  greed  for  riches  without  labor. 

There  is  an  utter  absence  of  all  the  facilities  and  forces 
that  we  associate  with  modern  civilization.  The  capital  has 
no  street  cars,  no  sewers,  water  or  telephone  systems,  only 
a few  private  electric  light  plants  and  no  building  ever 
erected  entirely  for  school  purposes.  Illiteracy  on  the  island 
is  calculated  at  90  to  95  per  cent,  of  persons  over  ten  years 
of  age.  Many  country  people  have  no  sense  of  numbers 
above  five.  There  are  practically  no  roads,  and  the  northern 
and  southern  parts  of  the  island  are  like  two  different  coun- 
tries. Venereal  diseases,  hookworm,  malaria  and  tubercu- 
losis have  run  riot  without  anyone  knowing  how  to  treat 
them.  These  things  must  be  taken  into  consideration  when 
we  examine  the  accomplishments  of  the  forces  of  American 
occupation. 

In  the  summer  of  1919  I visited  Santo  Domingo  to  make 
a survey  of  social  conditions  and  suggest  a united  program 
of  service  which  could  be  undertaken  to  help  in  the  island’s 
development.  Practically  every  person  I asked  as  to  what 
the  people  particularly  needed,  replied,  “Everything.”  If  I 
suggested  this  or  that  or  the  other  institution  or  activity, 
the  reply  was  “Yes,  anything  you  can  do  for  these  people 
will  be  worth  while.  Don’t  be  afraid  of  duplicating  or  doing 
too  much.  That  would  be  impossible.” 

A program  was  drawn  up  which  was  approved  by  the 
principal  Dominican  and  North  American  residents  of  the 
capital.  This  program  is  now  being  put  into  operation 
through  a newly  organized  Board  for  Christian  Work  in 
Santo  Domingo,  which  is  beginning  a system  of  industrial 
* schools,  hospitals,  community  centers  and  institutional 
churches.  One  of  the  most  notable  things  about  this  work 
is  that  it  is  to  be  entirely  non-sectarian,  the  use  of  denomi- 
national names  as  found  in  the  United  States  is  to  be  elimi- 
nated and  the  workers  are  to  be  employed  because  of  their 
ability  to  render  the  particular  service  needed,  without  refer- 
ence to  their  ecclesiastical  connections. 

As  to  the  good  results  of  the  military  government,  they 
are  seen  in  the  elimination  of  revolution — the  bane  of  the 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN  COUNTRIES  287 

country  for  a century — the  building  of  roads  and  port 
works,  gradual  paying  off  of  the  national  debt,  improved 
sanitary  conditions,  providing  stable  conditions  for  business 
and  the  improvement  of  the  educational  system. 

It  must  be  recognized  that  these  improvements  are  made 
at  the  expense  of  much  bad  feeling  between  the  governors 
and  the  governed.  A military  government  is  not  designed 
to  develop  a people  into  self-expression  or  prepare  them  for 
self-government.  In  the  first  place,  there  is  too  much  gov- 
ernment. Martial  law  always  means  regulation  of  every  de- 
tail of  life.  People  cannot  meet  in  public  gatherings  to  dis- 
cuss their  problems.  The  newspapers  cannot  discuss  politi- 
cal questions,  and  criticisms  of  the  military  government  are 
not  to  be  thought  of.  Individuals  talk  mostly  in  whispers 
if  they  answer  adversely  your  inquiries  as  to  how  they  like 
the  present  order.  In  the  second  place,  a foreign  military 
government  conducted  largely  by  people  who  cannot  speak 
the  language  of  the  people  and  who  have  no  idea  of  their 
history  or  national  psychology  must  necessarily  be  an  un- 
just government.  Some  of  the  American  officials  do  their 
work  in  as  fine  a spirit  as  any  missionary  who  ever  went 
to  serve  on  a foreign  mission  station.  But  this  does  not  keep 
them  from  making  great  mistakes  when  they  arbitrarily 
determine  problems  of  taxation,  education  and  economic 
and  social  life.  The  United  States  Navy  has  not  had  suffi- 
cient experience  in  colonization  to  have  built  up  a body  of 
experts  in  such  matters.  Officers  are  changed  too  often 
to  acquire  experience,  and  enlisted  men  are  too  anxious  to 
get  home  to  take  any  interest  in  the  people. 

In  the  matter  of  education  a wonderful  showing  has  been 
made  in  the  primary  schools,  which  have  grown  from  an 
enrollment  of  some  30,000  four  years  ago  to  120,000  at 
present,  due  to  the  efforts  of  Colonel  Lane,  of  the  United 
States  Marine  Corps,  the  Minister  of  Education.  Unfortu- 
nately Colonel  Lane  has  recently  left  the  island,  illustrating 
the  too-prevailing  custom  of  changing  officials  just  when 
they  are  beginning  to  get  into  these  problems.  His  efforts 
were  centered  upon  combating  illiteracy.  There  are  no 
permanent  educational  foundations  laid  for  building  up  an 
adequate  teaching  force  or  training  the  children  along  in- 


288 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


dustrial  lines,  which  is  the  great  need  of  the  country. 
Higher  education  is  almost  wholly  lacking  and  the  provision 
of  former  governments  to  send  a number  of  students  to 
foreign  countries  has  been  discontinued  by  the  military 
government  because  of  these  students  making  certain  politi- 
cal problems. 

The  governors  and  the  governed  live  entirely  apart  from 
each  other  with  practically  no  means  of  intercourse.  While 
a few  of  the  Dominicans  have  been  employed  to  assist  the 
Americans,  these  have  thus  largely  cut  themselves  ofif  from 
their  own  people.  The  Americans  generally  remain  to  them- 
selves and  the  Dominicans  do  likewise,  if  for  no  other  rea- 
son than  the  simple  one  that  99%  of  each  party  is  unfa- 
miliar with  the  language  of  the  other. 

This  was  brought  home  to  me  by  a visit  to  Senor  Federico 
Garcia  Godoy,  one  of  the  most  noted  literary  men  in  Latin 
America.  American  Army  men  in  La  Vega,  his  home,  did 
not  even  know  where  he  lived.  When  he  found  out  that  I 
was  not,  as  he  supposed  all  American  visitors  were,  a com- 
mercial traveler,  and  that  I had  read  his  books  and  knew 
some  of  his  friends  in  the  literary  world  of  Latin  America, 
he  was  simply  overjoyed.  To  meet  an  American  who  could 
talk  of  something  in  his  world  and  not  simply  commercial 
topics  was  a new  experience  for  him.  Thus  all  the  time  I 
was  meeting  choice  spirits  among  both  Dominicans  and 
Americans  who  knew  nothing  of  one  another.  The  situa- 
tion which  shuts  out  entirely  from  the  molding  of  the  na- 
tional life  some  of  these  splendid  Dominicans  who  are  well 
known  for  their  ability  in  other  parts  of  the  world,  is  an 
impossible  situation. 

The  Dominicans  recognize  that  they  have  made  a mess 
of  governing  themselves  during  the  hundred  years  they  have 
tried  it.  They  are  not  unmindful  of  the  benefits  that  have 
come  from  peace  and  increased  prosperity  enjoyed  under 
American  rule.  Few  ever  expect  to  be  entirely  out  from 
under  American  influence.  Strange  to  say,  I found  most 
of  them  preferring  their  present  situation  to  that  of  Haiti. 
They  seem  to  reason  about  as  follows:  “The  present  mili- 
tary government  is  temporary.  Public  opinion  of  the  world 
will  not  allow  it  to  continue  once  the  situation  here  becomes 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN  COUNTRIES  289 


understood  by  the  outside  world.  If  we  should  sign  a treaty 
like  that  signed  by  Haiti,  then  we  ourselves  should  be  to 
blame  for  the  loss  of  our  sovereignty.  Give  us  a treaty  like 
the  arrangement  with  Cuba.  Then  the  United  States  can 
protect  its  commercial  interests  and  help  us  to  restore  order 
if  we  return  to  political  turmoil.  But  if  we  are  good,  then 
we  can  direct  our  own  affairs.” 

The  greatest  difficulty  with  such  a situation  as  the  present, 
however,  is  that  the  people  are  not  prepared  for  self-gov- 
ernment. The  Dominicans  have  no  responsibility  placed 
upon  them.  They  have  no  incentive  toward  progress  except 
material  prosperity.  More  of  their  children  may  be  taught 
to  read  and  write  and  more  may  enjoy  automobile  rides  on 
good  roads,  but  the  present  military  government  by  its  very 
nature  cannot  give  itself  to  the  development  of  the  nobler 
things  of  life.  Indeed  in  the  interior  of  the  country  de- 
velopment is  still  held  back  by  serious  disorder,  which  in  five 
years  the  marines  have  been  unable  to  suppress. 

The  continuance  of  a severe  press  censorship  probably 
does  more  to  cause  dissatisfaction  than  anything  else.  Not 
long  ago  three  Dominican  newspaper  men  were  arrested  for 
criticising  the  military  government  and  their  cases  were 
transferred  from  the  provost  court  to  a military  court  mar- 
tial. This  news  leaked  out  and  was  cabled  all  over  Latin 
America,  causing  intense  indignation.  Telegrams  from  press 
organizations  in  many  different  countries  reached  President 
Wilson,  asking  him  to  spare  the  lives  of  these  men,  which 
was  done.  Two  of  these  men  were  authors  well  known 
wherever  the  Spanish  language  is  read.  One  of  them,  who 
has  formed  a part  of  the  literary  circles  of  Paris,  London 
and  New  York,  was  a delegate  to  the  Third  Pan  American 
Conference  and  heard  Mr.  Root  make  his  famous  declara- 
tion, “We  wish  for  no  victories  but  those  of  peace,  for  no 
territory  except  our  own,  for  no  sovereignty  except  over 
ourselves,  we  neither  claim,  nor  desire  any  rights,  privileges 
or  powers  we  do  not  freely  concede  to  every  American  re- 
public.” 

Americans  who  not  only  believe  that  Mr.  Root  here  truly 
represented  his  people  but  who  are  also  anxious  that  the  rest 
of  the  world  believe  this  will  rejoice  in  the  announcement 


290 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


issued  just  before  the  close  of  the  Wilson  Administration, 
that  the  marines  were  to  be  withdrawn  from  Santo  Do- 
mingo, a commission  of  Dominicans  being  appointed  to 
work  out  with  the  North  American  government  the  relation- 
ships that  should  exist  between  the  two  governments.  It 
will  not  be  an  easy  problem  to  protect  the  Dominican  people 
from  their  own  worse  selves  and  to  aid  them  in  building  a 
government  that  will  assure  peace  and  progress  and  the  exer- 
cising of  that  sovereignty  to  which  they  are,  by  the  law  of 
nations,  entitled. 


HAITI 

If  the  visitor  to  Santo  Domingo  has  come  to  believe  that 
he  is  in  the  most  backward  of  all  the  world’s  districts,  he  is 
soon  led  to  change  his  mind  on  arriving  in  Haiti.  In  the  in- 
terior one  is  constantly  reminded  of  the  heart  of  Africa, 
with  the  latter  sometimes  having  the  place  of  preference. 
While  the  country  is  only  half  as  large  as  Santo  Domingo, 
it  lias  more  than  three  times  the  population,  about  two  and 
a half  million,  making  it  one  of  the  most  thickly  populated 
districts  in  the  western  hemisphere.  It  is  the  black  man’s 
paradise.  In  1795  Spain  transferred  the  island  to  France 
and  thus  it  became  the  only  country  in  Latin  America  where 
French  is  spoken.  The  country  people  speak  a patois  which 
is  a mixture  of  French,  English  and  their  native  tribal 
tongue.  Not  over  five  per  cent,  of  the  people  are  able  to 
read  and  write. 

Haiti,  like  Santo  Domingo,  is  one  of  the  richest  countries 
on  earth  and,  like  her  neighbor  also,  has  had  one  of  the 
most  turbulent  histories.  Of  the  twenty-five  presidents  from 
1816  to  1903,  three  were  assassinated,  one  died  from 
wounds  received  in  his  palace,  one  committed  suicide,  fifteen 
were  driven  out  by  revolution,  three  died  in  office  and  one 
lived  out  his  term  and  died  a natural  death  in  his  own 
country. 

As  a result  of  one  of  the  worst  of  these  revolutions  Ad- 
miral Caperton,  on  July  29,  1915,  landed  marines.  A few 
days  later  elections  were  held,  and  the  officials  who  were 
elected  under  American  supervision  signed  a treaty  with  the 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN  COUNTRIES  291 


United  States  which  made  that  country  supreme  in  the 
Haitian  government  except  in  the  Department  of  Educa- 
tion— the  one  department  where  it  would  seem  help  could 
best  have  been  given.  While  the  reading  of  the  treaty  does 
not  seem  to  indicate  such  a contemplation,  a military  gov- 
ernment has  since  that  time  been  maintained  by  the  United 
States.  But,  unlike  Santo  Domingo,  Haiti  has  a President, 
Cabinet  and  sometimes  a Congress,  with  governors  and  local 
officials  who  function  in  certain  matters  when  they  are  will- 
ing to  cooperate  with  the  American  authorities. 

There  is  a dual  government  in  Haiti,  one  the  native  gov- 
ernment and  the  other  the  American  marines,  headed  by 
the  general  in  command.  If  the  native  gendarmerie  is 
counted,  and  it  has  large  authority,  there  may  be  said  to  be 
three  governments.  Frankly,  this  three-cornered  arrange- 
ment has  created  conditions  that  leave  all  parties  confused 
and  disgusted. 

The  man  of  most  power  is  the  Financial  Advisor,  an 
American  who  has  practically  absolute  authority  over  the 
various  items  of  expenditure  by  the  national  treasury.  He 
recently  withheld  the  salaries  of  the  president  and  his  cabi- 
net for  several  months  because  they  would  not  sign  certain 
concessions  desired  by  his  government.  The  American  in 
charge  of  education  complains  that  it  is  most  difficult  to 
get  the  Financial  Advisor  to  allow  funds  for  education. 

In  matters  like  sanitation  the  usual  practice  is  to  detail 
an  officer  from  the  Navy  or  Marine  Corps  to  serve  under 
the  Haitian  Government.  The  gendarmerie,  like  the  Guardia 
National  of  Santo  Domingo,  is  composed  of  native  soldiers 
officered  by  American  Marines,  privates  or  non-commis- 
sioned officers  who  have  been  detailed  by  the  Marine  Corps 
for  this  work  after  they  have  stood  examination  in  ele- 
mentary French  and  in  Haitian  law.  Marines  are  only  sta- 
tioned permanently  in  the  larger  towns,  but  the  gendarmes 
are  found  scattered  all  over  the  country  as  well  as  in  all  the 
cities.  Where  both  forces  are  found,  their  barracks  are  in 
different  parts  of  the  town.  As  the  officers  of  the  gen- 
darmes are  only  enlisted  men  in  the  Marine  Corps  and  the 
private  gendarmes  are  Haitians,  there  is  naturally  little 
relation  between  the  personnel  of  the  two  organizations. 


292 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


The  marine  who  becomes  an  officer  in  the  gendarmerie 
finds  himself  clothed  with  almost  unlimited  power  in  the 
district  where  he  serves.  He  is  the  judge  of  practically  all 
civil  and  criminal  cases,  settling  everything  from  a family 
fight  to  a murder.  He  is  the  paymaster  of  all  funds  ex- 
pended by  the  national  government,  he  is  ex-officio  director 
of  the  schools,  inasmuch  as  he  pays  the  teachers.  He  con- 
trols the  mayor  and  the  city  council,  since  they  can  spend 
no  funds  without  his  O.  K.  As  collector  of  taxes  he  exer- 
cises a strong  influence  on  all  individuals  of  the  community. 
It  is  no  wonder  that  an  ordinary  private  in  the  Marine 
Corps,  with  a few  months’  residence  in  a foreign  country, 
where  people  are  at  a very  low  stage  of  civilization  and  he 
himself  has  little  or  no  preparation  for  such  varied  respon- 
sibilities as  are  thrust  upon  him,  is  often  charged  with  many 
abuses  and  mistakes.  When  one  sees  the  awful  conditions 
under  which  these  gendarmes  officers  are  called  to  live  he 
wonders  if  he  himself  would  do  any  better  under  the  same 
circumstances.  But  the  fact  remains  that  it  is  impossible 
to  get  forward  in  reforming  a people  who  see  nothing  to 
admire  in  the  reformer,  who  too  seldom  tempers  justice  with 
mercy,  and  at  times  even  inflicts  punishments  more  severe 
than  the  crimes  merit. 

It  is  with  great  hesitancy  that  one  passes  criticism  upon 
our  American  marines.  No  man  knows  but  that  he  might 
act  the  same  way  under  similar  conditions.  It  is  the  ma- 
chine, not  the  man,  that  is  to  blame. 

Frorfi  the  military  standpoint  it  is  natural  to  regard  all 
life  as  cheap;  especially  if  one  is  stationed  in  a country  where 
people  are  little  above  the  animal,  where  you  are  hated  and 
your  life  is  sought,  if  not  by  all,  at  least  by  organized  bands 
who  compel  you  to  sleep  with  your  hands  on  your  weapons, 
and  where  if  ever  caught,  you  know  you  will  be  subject  to 
unmentionable  tortures  before  you  meet  a horrible  death. 
Under  such  conditions  it  is  easy  to  live  up  to  the  rule  of 
“take  no  prisoners”  and  to  show  small  respect  for  the  rights 
and  property  of  those  who  have  no  respect  for  you  and  little 
for  themselves. 

Military  life,  moreover,  does  not  lend  itself  to  civil  re- 
forms, for  it  is  based  on  caste.  Discipline  is  only  maintained 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN  COUNTRIES  293 


by  obeying  your  superior  without  question.  The  private  is 
subject  to  the  ire  of  the  sergeant,  the  sergeant  to  the  lieu- 
tenant, the  lieutenant  to  the  captain,  and  so  on.  And  very 
likely  the  ire  of  all  is  visited  on  the  civilian.  As  a young 
editor,  who  had  to  take  his  paper  to  the  military  authorities 
for  their  censorship  before  it  could  be  published,  said,  “We 
want  a civil  government  so  we  can  approach  them.  You  go 
to  one  of  the  military  authorities.  You  know  he  is  a very 
fine  man.  But  he  has  a guard  at  the  door  who  unceremo- 
niously tells  you,  ‘Get  out,  and  do  it  quick !’  ” Is  it  any  won- 
der that  the  bandit  situation  does  not  improve  under  such 
treatment  or  that  the  American  soldier  acts  as  he  does  under 
the  conditions  described,  when  he  has  never  had  any  training 
for  administrative  or  democratizing  work? 

The  same  thing  applies  to  moral  life.  Who  will  throw 
the  first  stone  at  the  man  who  is  compelled  to  live  away 
from  all  that  is  pure  and  ennobling,  without  religious  or 
moral  influences  of  any  kind,  often  without  books  or  recrea- 
tion, without  even  a baseball  or  a Victrola,  in  the  midst  of 
the  vilest  native  life,  where  men  have  little  virtue  and  women 
small  sense  of  shame?  The  whole  thing  is  absolutely  un- 
natural. If  necessary  for  a few  months  under  extraordi- 
nary conditions,  it  should  certainly  not  be  allowed  to  exist 
through  the  years — years  during  which  men  do  not  get  into 
a pure  atmosphere  or  see  good  women  of  their  own  race  or 
hear  a moral  exhortation,  as  happens  with  some  of  our 
marines  here.  Such  men  have  their  whole  moral  make-up 
changed. 

The  best  of  the  officers  in  Haiti  realize  that  the  situation 
is  not  satisfactory  and  are  doing  what  they  can  to  correct 
it.  “So  far  we  have  done  little  for  Haiti  except  stop  the 
graft,  and  that  has  not  made  the  people  like  us.  It  is  time 
we  were  doing  some  constructive  service  for  these  people. 
I should  like  to  see  you  begin  the  program  of  schools  and 
hospitals  you  have  outlined.”  Thus  spoke  the  commander 
of  the  American  marines  in  Haiti,  Brigadier-General  Cat- 
lin,  who  was  wounded  at  Chateau-Thierry.  Of  course  he 
did  not  mean  to  be  taken  literally,  because  already  much  has 
been  accomplished  in  the  building  of  roads,  sanitation  of 
cities,  improvement  of  the  postal  sendee  and  other  public 


294 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


activities.  The  national  debt,  which  threatened  the  inde- 
pendent life  of  the  nation,  is  being  gradually  liquidated,  and 
revolution,  which  stifled  all  economic  development,  has  been 
suppressed. 

If  our  Government  is  to  go  forward  satisfactorily  with 
the  tremendous  job  it  has  begun,  there  must  be  in  every  case 
the  most  careful  selection  of  the  men  who  are  sent  to  deal 
with  these  people.  When  we  began  our  work  in  the  Philip- 
pines we  sent  a man  like  Chief  Justice  Taft  to  begin  the  de- 
velopment of  the  people  into  a democracy.  He  found  much 
the  same  conditions  as  now  exist  in  Haiti.  When  he  began 
to  talk  about  “our  little  brown  brother”  it  took  strong  meas- 
ures to  repress  the  sarcasm  of  the  soldiers,  who  sang,  “He 
may  be  a brother  of  William  H.  T.,  But  he  ain’t  no  kin  to 
me.”  But  the  new  spirit  prevailed  and  to-day  the  develop- 
ment of  the  Filipino  toward  democracy  is  the  pride  of  every 
American.  The  job  in  Haiti  is  a harder  one,  but  it  can  be 
accomplished  by  a combination  of  the  highest  type  of  admin- 
istrative and  moral  leadership. 

The  following  extracts  from  the  letter  of  a naval  officer 
emphasize  the  duty  of  the  United  States  to  render  an  un- 
selfish service  to  the  backward  people  of  this  island: 

“In  1914,  when  I was  on  duty  in  Haiti  and  Santo  Do- 
mingo, the  thought  occurred  to  me  how  the  natives  of  this 
island  had  been  neglected  by  the  various  philanthropic  and 
religious  societies  of  the  United  States. 

“After  five  years  in  Europe  I have  once  more  returned 
to  Santo  Domingo.  Meanwhile  we  Have  actually  taken  over 
the  government  of  this  island  and  our  moral  responsibility 
for  the  improvement  and  progress  of  the  natives  has  been 
greatly  increased,  while  I note  the  same  indifference  on  the 
part  of  the  various  philanthropic  and  welfare  organizations 
of  the  United  States  toward  this  work. 

<rThe  citizens  of  the  United  States,  out  of  private  funds, 
have  spent  millions  of  dollars  in  helping  and  assisting  the 
peoples  of  war-stricken  Europe.  The  peoples  of  war- 
stricken  Haiti,  our  own  particular  wards,  the  responsibility 
for  whose  betterment  we  cannot  escape,  in  view  of  the  occu- 
pation, have  received  practically  nothing. 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN  COUNTRIES  295 


“Europe  has  suffered  from  the  devastation  of  wars  for 
five  years;  Haiti  and  Santo  Domingo  for  over  a hundred. 
At  least  fifty  per  cent,  of  the  population  are  practically  re- 
duced to  savagery ; a certain  proportion  are  in  the  same  con- 
dition as  their  ancestors  were  when  they  were  brought  in 
slavery  from  the  African  jungles. 

“Now  that  the  United  States  has  occupied  the  island,  the 
American  people  should  no  longer  remain  in  ignorance  of 
the  true  conditions.  As  soon  as  they  realize  and  can  visual- 
ize the  state  of  affairs,  knowing  that  now  we  are  legally  and 
morally  responsible  and  have  got  to  see  the  thing  through, 
I’m  sure  they  will  respond  as  they  have  always  done  to 
stricken  and  unfortunate  branches  of  the  human  race.” 

The  whole  annual  budget  for  education  in  Haiti  in  1918 
was  $340,000.  Cuba,  with  the  same  number  of  people, 
spent  $7,000,000.  Porto  Rico,  with  half  the  population, 
spent  $4,000,000;  and  even  Santo  Domingo,  its  next  door 
neighbor  with  a third  of  the  population  of  Haiti,  will  spend 
this  year,  under  the  American  colonel  of  marines  who  di- 
rects her  education,  $1,500,900.  This  story  would  not  be 
nearly  so  bad  if  this  $340,000  were  spent  in  the  right  way. 
A large  part  of  it  heretofore  has  been  wasted  on  the  political 
army.  Many  of  the  teachers  who  have  been  appointed  in 
the  smaller  towns  never  go  to  the  schoolhouse  and  indeed 
there  often  is  none.  A captain  of  the  gendarmerie  told  me 
of  a woman  coming  in  to  draw  her  pay  as  a school  teacher. 
When  he  gave  her  the  receipt,  she  signed  by  a cross.  He 
asked  her  to  write  her  name.  She  said  she  did  not  know 
how  to  write,  and  when  reproached  for  this  she  said  that 
she  was  the  teacher  of  reading,  not  of  writing! 

The  limited  traffic  in  ideas  may  be  judged  from  the  fact 
that  the  number  of  letters  mailed  in  Haiti  in  a year  is  about 
equal  to  the  number  dropped  into  the  mail  boxes  of  New 
York  City  on  any  business  day  between  five  and  seven 
o’clock  in  the  evening.  There  is  no  question  that  the  big- 
gest job  of  the  United  States  in  its  development  of  Haiti  is 
the  increase  in  traffic  of  the  right  ideas — education  in  its 
broadest  sense. 

As  I review  the  whole  situation  in  Santo  Domingo  and 


296 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


Haiti,  the  condition  at  present  seems  to  me  very  unsatis- 
factory. In  the  American  military  rule  there  has  been  in- 
competency, cruelty,  immorality  and  a tendency  to  lower 
conduct  and  administration  of  justice  to  the  level  of  the  na- 
tives rather  than  to  lift  it  to  the  standard  of  American  de- 
mocracy. On  the  other  hand  there  has  been  much  real 
effort  to  serve  in  the  spirit  of  true  American  altruism.  The 
system,  not  the  personnel,  is  the  thing  that  is  not  American. 

The  people  of  the  United  States  ought  to  understand  that 
while  they  are  minded  to  pay  no  attention  to  our  relations 
with  the  small  countries,  naively  supposing  that  because  we 
are  who  we  are  our  actions  will  always  be  altruistic  and  the 
world  will  recognize  that  fact — the  people  of  the  United 
States  ought  to  know  that  the  world  is  continually  talking 
about  these  things.  It  has  taken  a presidential  campaign  to 
get  a few  columns  into  the  newspapers  about  Santo  Domingo 
and  Haiti.  But  a book  could  easily  be  filled  with  quota- 
tions from  the  Latin  American  press  during  the  past  year 
on  this  subject.  Of  course  it  is  idle  for  any  political  party 
to  try  to  make  capital  out  of  our  relations  with  Santo  Do- 
mingo and  Haiti,  because  they  are  only  a part  of  the  whole 
drift,  evident  in  Cuba,  Porto  Rico,  Panama  and  Nicaragua, 
toward  making  the  Caribbean  Sea  an  American  lake. 

The  American  people  may  believe  that  this  is  the  right 
thing  to  do.  But  they  have  never  said  so.  They  have  never 
expressed  themselves  for  or  against,  through  a general  pub- 
lic discussion,  the  platform  of  a political  party  or  even  a 
vote  of  Congress.  They  should  no  longer  avoid  the  obli- 
gation to  do  this.  England  has  in  her  government  a de- 
partment for  the  handling  of  her  colonial  problems,  and  the 
English  people  keep  close  watch  over  it.  Means  are  pro- 
vided for  representatives  of  the  colonies  to  be  heard  and 
officials  of  the  Crown  are  especially  trained  for  this  work. 
Certainly  if  after  due  consideration  we  decide  to  govern 
(and  we  are  governing)  these  small  countries,  either  politi- 
cally or  entirely,  we  ought  to  say  to  them  and  to  the  world 
what  we  intend  to  do  and  straightway  prepare  to  do  it  in 
the  way  that  accords  with  the  highest  American  traditions. 
Such  a step  would  of  course  lead  to  the  alteration  of  a good 
many  of  our  diplomatic  declarations  about  the  rights  of 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN  COUNTRIES  297 


small  nations,  concerning  Pan  Americanism,  and  the  twenty- 
one  American  republics,  “each  free  and  equal.” 

CENTRAL  AMERICA 

Central  America  is  similarly  under  the  influence  of  the 
United  States  as  are  the  countries  already  mentioned.  In 
order  to  understand  the  relations  between  these  two  larger 
entities,  one  must  know  something  of  the  relations  of  these 
smaller  entities  among  themselves.  Remembering  that  Pan- 
ama has  never  been  a part  of  Central  America,  we  find  that 
in  Colonial  days,  the  five  divisions  now  called  republics  were 
under  the  one  Viceroyalty  of  Guatemala.  Their  independ- 
ence was  secured  without  great  effort  in  1821,  and  in  1823 
they  formed  the  Federation  of  Central  America.  Unfortu- 
nately local  jealousies  did  not  permit  the  continuance  of  the 
Federation,  which  was  dissolved  by  an  act  of  its  own  Con- 
gress on  May  30,  1838. 

Ever  since  that  date  the  most  discussed  subject  in  all  the 
five  republics  is  that  of  the  reunion  of  these  countries.  In 
1842,  1848,  1852,  1862  and  1872  schemes  for  union  were 
worked  out  but  not  adopted.  General  Justo  Rufino  Barrios, 
president  of  Guatemala,  endeavored  to  force  union  by  war, 
and  was  killed  on  the  field  of  battle,  April  2,  1883.  The  ef- 
forts since  the  time  of  Barrios  have  been  too  numerous  to 
mention.  Whenever  a revolutionary  leader  is  looking  for 
a rallying  cry  or  a president  wishes  to  recuperate  his  waning 
power  he  lays  hold  of  the  cry  for  unity. 

The  first  Central  American  Juridical  Congress,  held  in 
June,  1897,  at  Guatemala  City,  laid  the  basis  for  unifying 
various  important  activities.  The  treaties  that  were  then 
signed  dealt  with  mercantile  law,  penal  law,  extradition,  lit- 
erary, artistic  and  industrial  property,  civil  law  and  legal 
procedure ; and  four  years  later  with  political  and  interna- 
tional law.  A second  Juridical  Congress  was  held  at  San 
Salvador  in  February,  1901,  when  additional  treaties  pro- 
viding for  ratification  of  the  preceding  arrangements  were 
signed. 

The  Peace  Pact  signed  at  Corinto  in  1902  began  the  im- 
portant movement  which  culminated  in  the  joining  together 


298 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


of  the  United  States  and  Mexico  to  help  bring  permanent 
peace  to  the  disturbed  lands.  A Peace  Conference  fostered 
by  the  fwo  nations  was  held  aboard  the  U.  S.  Cruiser,  Mar- 
blehead, in  1905,  with  satisfactory  results.  When  fresh 
troubles  broke  out,  the  two  friendly  nations  decided  to  in- 
vite the  contending  parties  to  Washington  to  have  them  go 
into  the  whole  Central  American  question  and  find,  if  pos- 
sible, a solution  for  their  difficulties  once  for  all.  This  no- 
table conference  met  on  November  13,  1907,  and  was  in 
session  for  five  weeks.  The  North  American  and  Mexican 
representatives  were  considered  not  only  as  members  of  it 
but  as  legal  advisors  of  the  Central  American  delegates. 
Secretary  of  State  Elihu  Root  and  Ignacio  Mariscal,  Minis- 
ter for  Foreign  Affairs  of  Mexico,  were  elected  as  honorary 
presidents.  Secretary  Root  occupied  the  chair  during  most 
of  the  inaugural  session  and  spoke  as  follows  : 

“The  all-important  thing  for  you  to  accomplish  is  that 
while  you  enter  into  agreements  which  will,  I am  sure,  be 
framed  in  consonance  with  the  most  peaceful  aspirations 
and  the  most  rigid  sense  of  justice,  you  shall  devise  also 
some  practical  methods  under  which  it  will  be  possible  to 
secure  the  performance  of  those  agreements.  * * * To  find 
practical  definite  methods  by  which  you  shall  make  it  some- 
body’s duty  to  see  that  the  great  principles  you  declare  are 
not  violated,  by  which  if  an  attempt  be  made  to  violate  them 
the  responsibility  may  be  fixed  upon  the  guilty  individual 
— those,  in  my  judgment,  are  the  problems  to  which  you 
should  specifically  and  most  earnestly  address  yourselves.” 

In  his  inaugural  address  as  permanent  president,  Luis 
Anderson,  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs  of  Costa  Rica,  said : 

“The  solemn  inauguration  of  this  Central  American 
Peace  Conference  marks  in  the  history  of  our  people  the 
epoch  that  separates  the  past  from  the  future,  the  time  when 
war  and  revolution  will  sink,  never  to  rise,  to  give  way  to 
peace,  progress  and  tranquillity.  It  is  the  beginning  of  an 
era  to  which  the  spirit  of  the  century  urgently  calls  us. 

“Civilization  cannot  allow  that  in  the  family  of  nations 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN  COUNTRIES  299 


there  be  one  which  does  not  work  for  or  contribute  to  the 
common  benefit  the  full  extent  of  its  energies  and  of  the 
wealth  with  which  nature  has  endowed  it,  because  all  na- 
tions are  united  in  human  progress. 

“Admirably  situated  between  two  continents,  with  exten- 
sive coast  lines  on  both  oceans,  with  an  exceedingly  rich 
soil,  suitable  for  all  kinds  of  products,  with  mountains  full 
of  gold  and  silver — in  fine,  with  such  wealth  that  it  would 
seem  nature  took  pride  in  scattering  over  these  lands  all 
its  riches  with  a prodigal  hand — Central  America  is  in  duty 
bound  to  render  to  civilization,  through  universal  inter- 
change, all  the  benefits  that  its  privileged  situation  demands.” 

The  seven  documents  prepared  by  the  conference  have 
since  become  the  virtual  constitution  of  a new  Central 
America.  A general  treaty  of  amity  was  negotiated  to  run 
ten  years.  It  declares  that  every  difference  or  difficulty  that 
may  arise  among  them,  of  whatsoever  nature  it  may  be, 
shall  be  decided  by  a court,  and  that  any  attempt  to  alter  by 
violence  the  constitutional  organization  of  any  state  is  to  be 
deemed  a menace  to  the  peace  of  all.  The  territory  of  Hon- 
duras— which  lies  between  Guatemala  to  the  north,  Nica- 
ragua to  the  south  and  Honduras  to  the  west  and  which  fre- 
quently was  Central  America’s  battle-ground, — was  neu- 
tralized. Each  state  obligated  itself  to  accredit  permanent 
diplomatic  legations  to  the  others,  and  all  Central  Americans 
were  again  mutually  recognized  as  citizens.  They  promised 
to  prevent  political  refugees  from  living  near  their  borders, 
to  refuse  to  recognize  any  government  resulting  from  a 
coup  d’etat  or  to  intervene  in  any  republic  on  account  of  in- 
ternal disorder.  They  agreed  that  each  country  should  try 
for  a constitutional  reform  by  which  the  re-election  of  a 
president  should  be  prohibited. 

The  second  convention  created  the  Central  American 
Court  of  Justice,  the  most  remarkable  judicial  organ  in  the 
world,  to  be  situated  at  Cartago,  Costa  Rica.  The  five  sov- 
ereign states  gave  this  court  authority  to  determine  all  ques- 
tions arising  between  them  which  diplomacy  should  fail  to 
settle;  to  determine  cases  involving  alleged  violation  of 
treaties  where  denial  of  justice  should  be  charged  by  a citi- 


300 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


zen  of  one  country  against  the  government  of  another,  and 
to  determine  any  question  submitted  by  two  governments,  or 
by  a government  and  a citizen  of  any  of  the  five  states.  Fur- 
ther, the  court  determines  its  own  competency  respecting 
cases  brought  before  it  and  decides  all  questions  of  fact  ac- 
cording to  its  own  judgment.  Its  decision  is  final,  but  must 
be  rendered  by  a majority.  An  optional  article  makes  it 
possible  for  the  court  to  take  jurisdiction  “over  the  conflicts 
which  may  arise  between  the  legislative,  executive  and  judi- 
cial power,  and  when  as  a matter  of  fact  the  judicial  deci- 
sions and  resolutions  of  the  national  congress  are  not  re- 
spected” in  any  state,  a provision  which  was  not  fully 
ratified. 

The  third  convention  provided  for  mutual  extradition  of 
criminals  and  defined  extraditable  crimes. 

The  fourth  convention  aimed  “to  develop  the  interests 
common  to  Central  America.”  To  this  end  an  international 
Central  American  bureau  was  established  “to  combine  every 
effort  toward  the  peaceful  reorganization  of  their  mother 
country,  Central  America.”  The  bureau,  with  duties  speci- 
fied in  some  detail,  was  placed  at  Guatemala  and  its  mem- 
bership consists  of  one  person  from  each  of  the  five  states. 

The  fifth  convention  created  a Central  American  peda- 
gogical institute,  establishing  a normal  school  and  aiming  to 
bring  about  a common  system  of  education  in  the  five  states. 

The  sixth  convention  provided  for  annual  conferences  for 
five  years. 

The  seventh  convention  contemplated  measures  looking 
toward  the  proper  connection  of  the  several  republics  by 
railroad. 

INAUGURATION  OF  THE  CENTRAL  AMERICAN  COURT 

The  Central  American  Court  of  Justice  was  recognized 
from  the  beginning  as  the  most  important  creation  of  the 
1907  conference.  It  had  an  auspicious  beginning.  Its  in- 
stallation was  set  for  May  25,  1908,  and  Costa  Rica,  the 
host,  invited  delegations  from  the  United  States  and  Mex- 
ico, the  godparents  of  the  whole  scheme.  William  I.  Bu- 
chanan of  the  United  States  and  Enrique  C.  Creel  Mexican 
Ambassador  to  Washington,  were  chosen  to  represent  their 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN  COUNTRIES  301 


governments,  and  Mr.  Buchanan  at  once  started  for  Mexico. 
On  May  14  Mr.  Buchanan,  Mr.  Creel  and  parties  went  on 
board  the  United  States  cruiser  Albany. 

Senor  Luis  Anderson  said  in  the  opening  address : 

“Arbitration  has  been  contemplated  as  a sure  means  of 
arriving  at  pacific  solutions,  and  those  peoples  who  have  been 
favored  thus  have  accumulated  strong  proofs  of  its  effi- 
ciency in  their  national  life  and  have  escaped  in  their  his- 
tory pages  of  sorrow. 

“In  the  history  of  the  countries  of  Spanish  America  the 
noble  idea  has  a glorious  origin.  It  was  born  with  their 
independence  as  though  inseparable  from  liberty,  and  as  a 
necessary  element  in  their  existence,  since  liberty  surges 
from  truthful  force,  which  resides  in  justice.  It  was  thus 
comprehended  by  the  genius  of  Bolivar  at  the  very  begin- 
ning of  American  emancipation,  and,  notwithstanding  fre- 
quent and  lamentable  vicissitudes,  is  to-day,  germinated  by 
the  deep  desire  of  Central  American  patriotism  developing 
itself,  and  will  soon  begin  to  give  abundant  and  beneficent 
fruit.  * * * 

“Civilization  does  not  halt  in  its  march  while  there  is  a 
step  in  advance  to  be  taken,  but  day  by  day  transforms  ideas 
into  doctrines  and  doctrines  into  institutions.  All  realized 
progress  is  crystallized  into  practical  and  fundamental  form 
after  the  natural  period  of  evolution  of  idealistic  theory. 
For  this  reason  great  thinkers  believe  that  the  idea  of  in- 
ternational arbitration,  a simple  humanitarian  doctrine  con- 
templated by  philanthropists  as  the  base  of  a superior  aspira- 
tion, must  be  carried  farther  and  be  converted  into  an  in- 
stitution which  shall  form  an  integral  part  of  the  organism 
of  nations.  * * * 

“The  glory  of  making  the  first  attempt  at  such  an  insti- 
tution, worthily  represented  by  this  Court  of  Justice  for 
Central  America,  belongs  to  us.” 

Minister  Buchanan,  to  whose  patience,  wisdom  and  sacri- 
ficial labors  was  due  so  much  of  the  success  of  this  move- 
ment, closed  the  proceedings  with  an  announcement  of  great 
interest,  as  follows: 


302 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


“I  have  received  a telegram  from  His  Excellency,  the 
Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States,  Hon.  Elihu  Root, 
instructing  me  to  advise  your  Excellencies  that  he  has  been 
authorized  by  Mr.  Andrew  Carnegie  to  offer  the  sum  of 
$100,000  for  the  construction  in  the  city  of  Cartago  of  a 
temple  of  peace  to  be  destined  for  the  exclusive  use  of  the 
Court  of  Justice  for  Central  America,  as  a mark  of  his  good 
wishes  for  the  peace  and  progress  of  Central  America  and 
of  his  confidence  in  the  success  of  the  great  work  of  hu- 
manity and  justice  which  is  to  spring  from  this  court,  which 
is  to  constitute  a new  and  splendid  example  of  civilization, 
of  peace,  of  justice,  and  of  confraternity  in  the  relations  of 
the  countries  represented  here.” 

The  Central  American  Court  of  Justice  had  the  broadest 
jurisdiction  ever  instituted  in  a permanent  system  between 
nations.  In  some  respects  it  was  even  broader  than  any 
temporal  international  tribunal  has  ever  had,  and  compares 
favorably  with  that  of  national  courts.  Therefore  it  marked 
an  advance  in  a world  where  enlightened  opinion  was  rapidly 
crystallizing  around  the  idea  that  an  international  legal  sys- 
tem, definite  in  character  and  operating  with  certainty,  was 
absolutely  necessary. 

That  this  most  remarkable  experiment  in  international 
good  will  ever  known  to  history  was  terminated  ten  years 
later  largely  because  the  United  States,  the  sponsor  of 
the  whole  idea,  refused  to  abide  by  one  of  its  decisions, 
thus  robbing  it  of  its  prestige,  is  one  of  the  strangest  tricks 
of  fate. 

NICARAGUA 

In  order  to  understand  the  failure  of  the  Court  of  Justice 
we  must  go  to  Nicaragua  which,  with  Panama,  has  been 
kept  in  turmoil  for  many  years  because  of  its  possessing  that 
rare  and  much  prized  economic  asset,  an  interoceanic  canal 
route.  Uneasy  lies  the  head  that  wears  such  an  adornment ! 
Both  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  began  early  to 
flirt  with  Nicaragua  to  gain  this  prize.  The  United  States 
concluded  its  first  treaty  with  Nicaragua  for  the  canal  route 
in  1840.  Around  this  theme  was  played  the  bloody  drama 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN  COUNTRIES  303 

of  the  filibuster  Walker,  who  for  many  years  flaunted  the 
worst  in  North  American  life  before  the  helpless  Central 
Americans  in  an  endeavor  to  capture  this  rich  prize. 

Passing  over  many  intensely  interesting  events  in  the  flir- 
tation and  oppressions  between  Nicaragua  and  the  outside 
world,  we  come  to  the  rule  of  President  Zelaya,  who  was 
Dictator  of  Nicaragua  from  1894  to  1910.  He  tvas  one  of 
the  most  arrogant  meddlers  in  international  politics  ever 
known.  One  of  his  hopes  was  to  become  the  strong  man 
of  Central  America  and  show  the  Yankees  where  they  be- 
longed. His  arbitrary  conduct  and  financial  difficulties  with 
foreigners  brought  bombardments  from  British  battleships 
on  two  different  occasions.  One  of  his  tricks  was  to  inti- 
mate to  Japan  that  a bid  for  the  canal  route  from  her  would 
be  well  received.  The  United  States  did  not  propose  to 
stand  longer  for  such  a disturber.  So,  when  in  a revolu- 
tion against  Zelaya  in  1909,  two  North  American  soldiers 
of  fortune,  caught  in  the  act  of  blowing  up  a government 
steamer,  were  executed,  the  United  States  landed  marines 
and  forced  Zelaya  to  flee  from  the  country.  Secretary  of 
State  Knox,  in  handing  the  Nicaraguan  Minister  his  pass- 
port on  December  1,  1909,  said:  “Since  the  Washington 
Convention  of  1907  it  is  notorious  that  President  Zelaya 
has  almost  continuously  kept  Central  America  in  tension  or 
turmoil;  that  he  has  repeatedly  and  flagrantly  violated  the 
provisions  of  the  conventions,  and,  by  a baleful  influence 
upon  Honduras,  whose  neutrality  the  conventions  were  to 
assure,  has  sought  to  discredit  those  sacred  international 
obligations,  to  the  great  detriment  of  Costa  Rica,  Salvador 
and  Guatemala,  whose  governments  meanwhile  appear  to 
have  been  able  patiently  to  strive  for  the  loyal  support  of 
the  engagements  so  solemnly  undertaken  at  Washington  un- 
der the  auspices  of  the  United  States  and  of  Mexico.  It  is 
equally  a matter  of  common  knowledge  that  under  the 
regime  of  President  Zelaya  republican  institutions  have 
ceased  in  Nicaragua  to  exist  except  in  name,  that  public 
opinion  and  the  press  have  been  throttled,  and  that  prison 
has  been  the  reward  of  any  tendency  to  real  patriotism.” 

Zelaya  turned  over  the  presidency  to  Dr.  Jose  Madriz, 
but  he  was  also  forced  out  by  the  United  States  and  fhe 


304.  PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 

Conservatives  were  established  in  power.  In  1912  General 
Luis  Mena  led  a revolution,  which  threatened  the  overthrow 
of  the  government  backed  by  the  United  States.  Some 
2,000  marines  were  sent  to  Nicaragua  in  order  “to  protect 
American  life  and  property.”  The  liberal  movement  was 
put  down  at  a great  loss  of  life,  and  fresh  elections  were 
called  under  the  protection  of  United  States  marines.  Our 
Government  would  only  agree  to  a Conservative  candidate, 
so  the  Liberals  refused  to  vote.  And  from  that  time  till 
the  present,  marines  have  maintained  a Conservative  presi- 
dent in  the  chair,  as  all  evidence  seems  to  indicate,  against 
the  wishes  of  the  great  majority  of  Nicaraguans. 

As  the  note  sent  by  the  Taft  Administration  to  Minister 
Weitzel  at  Managua,  September  18,  1912,  on  the  occasion 
of  the  second  landing  of  marines,  since  when  a permanent 
company  have  been  maintained  there,  outlines  a general  pol- 
icy, it  is  here  given: 

“The  policy  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States  in 
the  present  Nicaraguan  disturbances  is  to  take  the  necessary 
measures  for  an  adequate  legation  guard  at  Managua,  to 
keep  open  communication,  and  to  protect  American  life  and 
property. 

“In  discountenancing  Zelaya,  whose  regime  of  barbarity 
and  corruption  was  ended  by  the  Nicaraguan  nation  after 
a bloody  war,  the  Government  of  the  United  States  opposed 
not  only  the  individual,  but  the  system,  and  this  Govern- 
ment could  not  countenance  any  movement  to  restore  the 
same  destructive  regime. 

“The  Government  of  the  United  States  will,  therefore, 
discountenance  any  revival  of  Zelayaism,  and  will  lend  its 
strong  moral  support  to  the  cause  of  legally  constituted  good 
government  for  the  benefit  of  the  people  of  Nicaragua, 
whom  it  has  long  sought  to  aid  in  their  just  aspiration 
toward  peace  and  prosperity  under  constitutional  and  orderly 
government. 

“Under  the  Washington  conventions  the  United  States 
has  a moral  mandate  to  exert  its  influence  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  general  peace  of  Central  America,  which  is  se- 
riously menaced  by  the  present  uprising,  and  to  this  end, 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN  COUNTRIES  305 


in  the  strict  enforcement  of  the  Washington  conventions 
and  the  loyal  support  of  their  aims  and  purposes,  all  the 
Central  American  republics  will  find  means  of  valuable  co- 
operation. 

“When  the  American  Minister  called  upon  the  Govern- 
ment of  Nicaragua  to  protect  American  life  and  property, 
the  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs  replied  that  the  Govern- 
ment troops  must  be  used  to  put  down  the  rebellion,  add- 
ing: ‘In  consequence,  my  government  desires  that  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States  guarantee  with  its  forces  se- 
curity for  the  property  of  American  citizens  in  Nicaragua, 
and  that  they  extend  this  protection  to  all  the  inhabitants 
of  the  republic/ 

“In  this  situation  the  policy  of  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  will  be  to  protect  the  life  and  property  of  its 
citizens  in  the  manner  indicated,  and  meanwhile  to  contribute 
its  influence  in  all  appropriate  ways  to  the  restoration  of 
lawful  and  orderly  government  in  order  that  Nicaragua 
may  resume  its  program  of  reforms  unhampered  by  the 
vicious  elements  who  would  restore  the  methods  of  Zelaya.” 

The  communication  closed  with  a denunciation  of  Gen- 
eral Mena,  leader  of  the  present  insurrection,  whose  revolt 
is  declared  to  have  been  in  flagrant  violation  of  promises, 
without  even  the  pretence  of  contending  for  a principle,  and 
“in  origin  one  of  the  most  inexcusable  in  the  annals  of  Cen- 
tral America/’ 

Criticism  of  and  opposition  to  this  line  of  policy  was  not 
lacking  in  Central  America  or  elsewhere.  Never  before  was 
it  made  quite  so  plain  that  no  government  can  survive  in  the 
five  republics  between  Mexico  and  Panama  without  the  ap- 
proval and  the  moral  support  of  the  administration  in  Wash- 
ington. 

The  culmination  of  this  policy  of  “moral  mandate”  was 
reached  when,  in  1916,  the  Bryan-Chamorro  treaty  was 
signed.  Nicaraguans  claim  that  this  was  the  complete  sell- 
ing out  of  their  country  by  a president  whom  they  had  not 
put  in  office  and  who  had  no  right  to  represent  them.  This 
statement  is  backed  by  many  reports  of  Americans  in  Nic- 
aragua, like  that  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Charles  G.  Long, 


306 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


who  wrote  on  November  12,  1912,  that  “The  Liberals  con- 
stitute three-fourths  of  the  country.  The  present  govern- 
ment is  not  in  power  by  the  will  of  the  country.” 

The  Bryan-Chamorro  treaty  contained  the  following  im- 
portant stipulations : 

(1)  Supervision  of  Nicaraguan  affairs  by  the  United 
States. 

(2)  United  States  to  be  granted  rights  to  construct  a canal 
through  any  part  of  Nicaragua  that  it  should  determine.  For 
this  the  sum  of  3 million  dollars  should  be  paid  Nicaragua, 
to  be  spent  under  the  direction  of  the  United  States. 

(3)  Lease  to  United  States  certain  islands  and  the  Fon- 
seca Bay  for  fortification  and  a naval  base. 

On  account  of  opposition  in  the  United  States  Senate, 
the  first  provision  for  a kind  of  a “Platt  Amendment”  was 
deleted. 

Indignant  protests  began  to  be  heard  all  over  Central 
America  as  soon  as  the  treaty  was  published.  Mass  meet- 
ings were  held  throughout  the  countries,  and  protests  were 
sent  to  the  United  States  from  prominent  men  and  organiza- 
tions of  Central  America.  The  following  extracts  from 
the  press  show  the  spirit  of  resentment: 

La  Information,  Costa  Rica,  said  on  July  1,  1914: 

“ * * * Everybody  is  aware  that  * * * our  sovereignty  is 
threatened,  at  least  in  part,  through  the  unbelievable  acts 
of  the  men  governing  Nicaragua.  Not  satisfied  with  offer- 
ing their  own  country7  to  the  United  States,  they  included  a 
part  of  Costa  Rican  territory.” 

El  Cronista,  of  Honduras,  on  August  7,  1914,  declared: 

“ * * * American  interference  in  the  land  of  the  lakes 
(Nicaragua)  will  not  stop,  and  the  new  feature  of  the  pro- 
tectorate still  threatens  the  other  small  republics. 

“ * * * Young  Honduras  heatedly  protests  against  the 
threat  of  Bryan  of  a protectorate,  and  must  feel  that  the 
danger  is  not  passed.  * * * ” 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN  COUNTRIES  307 


El  Cronista  declared  further  on  August  21,  1914: 

“ * * * The  tutelage  of  the  United  States  over  Central 
America  is  well  known;  and  it  is  evident  that  it  will  be- 
come stronger  as  a result  of  the  European  War. 

“ * * * There  is  nothing  new  in  that  the  United  States 
has  not  given  up  her  intention  of  creating  protectorates 
from  Guatemala  to  Costa  Rica,  ruinous  not  only  to  Central- 
American  sovereignty,  but  to  human  justice  as  well.  * * * 
We  shall  fall  victims  to  political  hunger.  * * * ” 

‘We  must  realize  that  we  are  to-day  threatened  by  the 
corrupt  ‘dollar  diplomacy,’  applied  with  unheard-of  impu- 
dence by  the  Executive  of  the  great  American  nation  whose 
history  speaks  with  legitimate  pride  of  glorious  Washing- 
ton and  Lincoln,  respected  throughout  their  country  for 
their  strict  observance  of  right,  justice,  and  liberty,  to  which 
the  weaker  nations  now  appeal  against  the  threat  of  the 
modern  conqueror. 

“But  if,  unfortunately,  the  eagle  of  the  North  finally  suc- 
ceeds in  burying  his  claws  in  the  entrails  of  our  country  and 
wipes  out  our  national  existence,  let  us  be  content  with  at 
least  saving  the  dignity  and  pride  of  the  race  by  throwing 
our  energetic  protests  with  sacred  fury  at  the  Northern  in- 
vader, and  perishing  arms  in  hand  and  head  uplifted!” 

Costa  Rica  and  El  Salvador  immediately  brought  suit  in 
the  Central  American  Court  of  Justice  for  the  annulment 
of  the  treaty  on  the  ground  that  Nicaragua  had  no  right 
to  sign  away  her  sovereignty  without  consulting  the  other 
Central  American  countries,  and  particularly  could  not  give 
any  rights  in  Fonseca  Bay,  which  had  always  been  consid- 
ered the  undivided  property  of  Honduras,  Salvador,  and 
Nicaragua.  They  also  showed  that  the  establishment  of  an 
effective  naval  base  by  the  United  States  would  mean  plac- 
ing of  guns  on  points  that  would  command  territory  of 
Honduras  and  Salvador. 

The  judges  upheld  the  claimants  against  Nicaragua  by  a 
vote  of  four  to  one,  the  Nicaraguan  judge  of  course  voting 
against  the  decision.  Nicaragua  and  the  United  States 
declined  to  accept  the  decision.  Thus  the  United  States, 


308 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


which  was  responsible  for  the  establishment  of  this,  the 
only  court  of  arbitration  in  the  world,  allowed  the  court  to 
close  its  doors  in  ignominious  defeat  on  March  15,  1918. 

In  Nicaragua  the  outstanding  influence  is  the  one  hun- 
dred United  States  marines  who  live  up  on  the  hill  domi- 
nating the  city.  A hundred  marines  are  not  many,  but  as 
one  gentleman  expressed  it,  “When  we  see  that  hundred  up 
there,  we  see  a hundred  thousand  behind  them  and  then 
behind  them  a hundred  million.  So  we  know  we  must  not 
displease  Tio  Samuel.” 

The  American  bank  that  owns  the  radroad  and  dictates 
the  financial  policies  of  the  country  and  the  American  cus- 
toms collectors  are  the  predominant  forces  that  persuade  the 
Nicaraguans  to  court  the  favor  of  the  United  States  or 
curse  their  luck,  as  the  case  may  be. 

On  a visit  to  Nicaragua  in  1920  I had  a perfect  ava- 
lanche of  callers  and  requests  for  engagements,  for  they 
were  fancying  that  maybe  this  American  could  have  some 
influence  in  getting  his  government  to  better  their  condi- 
tions. Soon  my  days  wrere  divided  up,  one  with  the  editors, 
one  with  the  educators,  one  with  the  literati,  one  with  the 
cabinet,  one  with  the  supreme  court,  and  so  on. 

The  presidential  elections  were  very  close  and  the  main 
question  with  the  Conservative  party  was,  “Will  our  big 
Uncle  stand  by  us  as  before  and  keep  the  opposition  from 
armed  rebellion,  so  that  we  may  continue  in  power?”  The 
Liberals  no  less  insistently  asked,  “Will  the  United  States 
force  the  Conservatives  to  let  us  vote  at  these  elections  so 
that  we  may  put  in  a man  who  represents  the  majority  of 
the  people?” 

The  Liberals  now  claim  that,  since  the  United  States  in- 
terfered once  with  their  internal  affairs  the  only  just  thing 
for  it  to  do  is  to  compel  fair  elections — that  if  it  keeps  its 
hands  off,  that  will  mean  the  continuance  of  the  Conserva- 
tives in  power,  since  they  will  count  themselves  in,  how- 
ever, the  voting  may  go. 

The  following  letter  from  Senator  Root,  written  to  a 
friend,  is  a splendid  statement  of  the  question: 

“I  understand  you  are  going  to  see  the  President  regard- 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN  COUNTRIES  309 


ing  Central  American  affairs  and  that  before  you  see  him 
you  wish  to  know  what  I think  about  the  effect  of  the  pend- 
ing Nicaragua  treaty.  I confess  I am  a good  deal  troubled 
about  it.  I felt  that  it  was  desirable  to  do  what  the  treaty 
provides  for,  that  is  to  say,  to  protect  our  Panama  Canal  by 
securing  an  exclusive  right  to  the  Nicaragua  route  so  far  as 
the  Republic  of  Nicaragua  can  grant  it,  and  to  have  the 
right  to  a naval  station  in  Fonseca  Bay.  I was  not  in  favor 
of  the  more  extensive  provisions  originally  proposed,  simi- 
lar to  those  in  the  Platt  Amendment,  which  unduly  inter- 
fered with  the  independence  of  Nicaragua.  I was  unwill- 
ing to  have  our  government  accept  from  any  Nicaragua  gov- 
ernment a grant  of  power  which  I felt  certain  the  people  of 
Nicaragua  would  not  and  ought  not  to  approve.  With  those 
provisions  out,  however,  and  nothing  left  but  the  grant 
which  I have  described,  I voted  for  a favorable  report  on 
the  treaty.  I am,  however,  troubled  about  the  question 
whether  the  Nicaragua  government,  which  has  made  the 
treaty,  is  really  representative  of  the  people  of  Nicaragua, 
and  whether  it  will  be  regarded  in  Nicaragua  and  in  Central 
America  as  having  been  a free  agent  in  making  the  treaty. 
I have  been  looking  over  the  report  of  the  commanding 
officer  of  our  marines  in  Nicaragua  and  I find  there  the 
following:  ‘The  present  government  is  not  in  power  by  the 
will  of  the  people;  the  elections  of  the  House  of  Congress 
were  most  fraudulent.’ 

“And  a further  statement  that  the  Liberals,  that  is  to  say, 
the  opposition,  “constitute  three-fourths  of  the  country.’’ 
It  is  apparent  from  this  report  and  from  other  information 
which  has  in  a casual  way  come  to  me  from  various  sources 
that  the  present  government  with  which  we  are  making  this 
treaty  is  really  maintained  in  office  by  the  presence  of  United 
States  marines  in  Nicaragua.  I am  told  that  if  the  marines 
were  withdrawn  the  present  President  would  be  obliged  to 
leave  the  country  immediately  or  he  would  be  expelled  by  a 
revolution.  This  situation  raises  a very  serious  question, 
not  about  the  desirableness  of  the  treaty,  but  about  the  way 
in  which  the  treaty  should  be  made.  Can  we  afford  to  make 
a treaty  so  serious  for  Nicaragua,  granting  us  perpetual 
rights  in  that  country,  with  a President  who  we  have  reason 


310  PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 

to  believe  does  not  represent  more  than  a quarter  of  the  peo- 
ple of  the  country,  and  who  is  maintained  in  office  by  our 
military  force,  and  to  whom  we  would,  as  a result  of  the 
treaty,  pay  a large  sum  of  money  to  be  disposed  of  by  him 
as  President?  I should  be  sorry  to  see  the  United  States 
get  into  that  position.  We  don’t  want  to  maintain  a gov- 
ernment in  Nicaragua  by  military  force  perpetually,  and  it 
is  highly  probable  that  if  we  were  to  withdraw  our  force 
after  making  such  a treaty  there  would  be  a revolution  and 
the  treaty  would  be  repudiated,  leaving  us  in  a position  where 
our  legitimate  moral  influence  would  be  destroyed  and  noth- 
ing but  brute  force  left.  There  is  a good  deal  of  evidence 
that  the  other  people  of  Central  America  look  at  the  sub- 
ject in  this  way.  I should  be  very  sorry  to  see  the  Central 
Americans  convinced  that  we  wish  to  rule  them  by  force, 
for  it  would  be  the  end  of  all  our  attempts  to  benefit  them 
, and  help  them  along  as  we  have  been  trying  to  do.  I think 
that  we  ought  to  keep  before  us  always  as  an  objective  the 
building  up  of  a stable  and  orderly  Central  American  Union, 
and  a good  deal  of  progress  in  that  direction  has  already 
been  made.  The  treaties  which  were  agreed  upon  at  the 
Central  American  Conference  in  Washington  in  1907  con- 
tribute in  a practical  way  to  promote  an  approach  toward 
ultimate  union.  It  seems  to  me  that  there  is  a great  oppor- 
tunity now  to  try  to  bring  the  Central  American  states  to- 
gether because  of  their  active  interest  in  this  proposed  treaty 
with  Nicaragua.  At  all  events,  I feel  that  for  our  own  pro- 
tection and  for  the  good  of  Central  America  we  ought  to 
make  some  provision  by  which  there  shall  be  either  a sub- 
mission of  this  treaty  to  the  people  of  Nicaragua  under  a 
fairly  supervised  election,  or  the  election  of  a new  govern- 
ment under  such  supervision  as  to  prevent  fraud  in  election, 
and  then  let  the  new  government,  representing  the  majority 
of  the  people  of  Nicaragua,  pass  upon  the  ratification  of 
the  treaty.” 

EL  SALVADOR 

Students  of  Central  American  politics  need  to  give  close 
attention  to  little  Salvador.  If  the  Chileans  are  the  Yan- 
kees of  South  America,  the  Salvadoreans  are  the  Chileans 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN  COUNTRIES  311 


of  Central  America.  A hard-working  population  (compar- 
atively), a lack  of  revolutions,  numerous  small  industries,  a 
well-organized  army,  emphasis  on  secondary  education  (al- 
ways comparatively,  remember),  a strongly  developed  na- 
tionalism with  a converse  questioning  concerning  North 
American  imperialism,  and  a pride  of  leadership  among 
sister  states — these  and  other  characteristics  remind  one  fa- 
miliar with  South  American  states  of  vigorous  little  Chile. 

One  of  the  most  democratic  presidents  I have  met  in  all 
Latin  America  is  Don  Jorge  Melendez,  who  talked  with  me 
nearly  an  hour  recently  in  the  most  informal  way  about  the 
people  of  Salvador,  the  difficulties  of  avoiding  revolutions 
in  Central  America,  financial  and  political  relations  with 
the  United  States,  and  other  questions. 

Because  Salvador  was  the  only  Central  American  Republic 
that  did  not  join  the  Allies  in  the  war  against  Germany  and 
because  she  has  recently  asked  the  United  States  for  a defi- 
nition of  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  it  was  particularly  interest- 
ing  to  hear  the  President  declare  his  desire  for  close  rela- 
tions with  the  United  States.  Because  his  ideas  seem  to  be 
so  well  represented  by  the  words  of  his  brother,  whom  he 
has  just  succeeded  in  the  presidency,  I give  them  here : 

“If  American  diplomacy,  in  its  relations  with  the  Central 
American  peoples,  maintains  unimpaired  the  principles  of 
equity  and  justice  laid  down  by  President  Wilson,  princi- 
ples of  cordiality,  confraternity  and  respect  for  the  sover- 
eignty of  these  peoples,  such  a policy  of  mutual  considera- 
tion and  good  understanding  will  be  the  foundation  for 
closer  commercial  relations  between  the  United  States  and 
Salvador,  as  well  as  among  the  other  republics  of  the  Ameri- 
can continent. 

“The  best  means  of  rapprochement  for  two  peoples  is  an 
intimate  reciprocal  knowledge  of  their  peculiar  moods,  their 
psychology,  their  ideals  and  initiative  in  the  path  of  civiliza- 
tion. North  Americans  have  made  very  little  systematic 
and  methodical  effort  to  comprehend  the  characteristics  of 
the  political  and  social  evolution  of  our  small  nationalities. 
As  a general  rule,  with  but  very  few  exceptions,  North 
Americans  know  very  little  about  our  peoples  because  of 


312 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


false  representations  prompted  by  impulsive  meddling  with 
these  young  states. 

“The  interchange  of  university  professors  and  students 
would  be  an  effective  means  of  promoting  mutual  acquaint- 
ance. 

“The  sending  of  lecturers  to  our  universities,  the  estab- 
lishment of  good  daily  papers  and  magazines  in  the  Spanish 
language,  having  a wide  circulation  in  these  countries,  will 
contribute  to  the  spread  of  information  about  the  resources 
and  characteristics  of  the  North  Americans  in  our  midst. 

“It  behooves  the  statesmen,  bankers  and  manufacturers 
of  the  United  States  to  make  effective  the  most  important 
part  in  the  relations  between  the  United  States  and  Salva- 
dor.” 

Behind  those  words  of  Don  Carlos  Melendez  is  the  fact 
that  during  the  war,  when  he  was  President,  Salvador  had 
much  pro-German  sentiment,  which  kept  the  country  from 
entering  the  war  on  the  side  of  the  Allies,  although  it  de- 
clared a benevolent  neutrality  toward  them.  For  many 
years  there  has  been  a more  marked  tendency  in  Salvador 
than  in  other  Central  American  countries  to  question  the 
intentions  of  the  United  States  with  reference  to  Latin 
America. 

Her  protest  against  the  Bryan-Chamorro  treaty  was  most 
vigorous.  She  claimed  that  the  Fonseca  Bay  is  the  common 
property  of  the  three  countries  which  it  touches,  and  that 
the  establishment  of  a naval  base  there  and  the  fortifica- 
tion of  some  of  the  islands  would  give  the  United  States, 
with  long  range  guns,  absolute  command  of  Salvadorean 
territory  and  in  case  of  war  make  her  neutrality  impos- 
sible. 

It  may  be  said  in  parenthesis  that  when  one  sees  the  Bay 
it  is  easy  to  understand  the  truth  of  this  statement.  The 
fact  that  this  protest,  although  sustained  by  a majority  of 
the  Central  American  Court  of  Justice,  was  unattended  by 
the  United  States  and  did  not  serve  to  lessen  suspicion  of 
America’s  imperialistic  motives. 

During  the  Second  Pan  American  Scientific  Congress  in 
Washington  in  1916  the  Salvadorean  delegate,  Dr.  Alonso 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN  COUNTRIES  313 


Reyes  Guerra,  bearded  the  eagle  in  its  nest  and  said  plainly 
that  before  there  could  be  any  real  Pan  Americanism  four 
things  were  necessary : first,  a declaration  that  the  prohibi- 
tion against  the  conquest  of  American  territory  contained 
in  the  Monroe  doctrine  applies  to  the  United  States  as  well 
as  to  European  countries ; second,  the  adoption  of  the  Drago 
Doctrine,  which  makes  the  collection  of  debts  exclusively  an 
internal  question  to  be  handled  within  each  nation  itself; 
third,  elimination  of  all  exceptions  to  the  doctrine  of  non- 
intervention; fourth,  the  institution  of  obligatory  arbitra- 
tion of  all  international  disputes. 

GUATEMALA 

Guatemala  has  been  one  of  the  countries  that  has  most 
easily  “followed  the  mind”  of  the  United  States. 

The  outstanding  event  in  Guatemala  recently  was  the  fall 
of  Cabrera,  one  of  the  last  of  the  old  order  of  Dictators  in 
Latin  America.  It  is  claimed  that  he  was  sustained  in  his 
career  of  more  than  twenty  years  by  the  backing  received 
from  the  United  States. 

I was  in  Guatemala  both  immediately  before  and  imme- 
diately after  the  revolution.  Having  talked  with  Cabrera 
about  his  policies  during  my  first  visit,  I desired  to  compare 
him  with  the  new  President  on  my  second  visit,  which  re- 
sulted in  an  experience  illustrative  of  the  difficulty  of  keep- 
ing straight  on  Central  American  politics. 

Asking  a friend  whether  he  thought  I could  see  the  Presi- 
dent to  find  out  about  his  proposed  program,  he  replied  that 
he  thought  I could  and  told  me  where  to  find  him.  Follow- 
ing the  directions  I came  to  a private  house  which  had  a 
few  soldiers  in  front  of  the  door  and,  on  explaining  that  I 
wished  to  see  the  President,  my  card  was  taken  in  where  I 
saw  a patio  full  of  ragged  soldiers.  Prettv  soon  a gentle- 
man in  military  uniform  came  out  and  asked  me  what  I 
wanted.  I told  him  that  I was  anxious  to  see  the  President 
and  talk  with  him  about  his  new  program.  The  gentleman 
seemed  to  be  a little  confused  and  I again  explained  that  I 
was  now  going  back  to  the  United  States  and  wished  to 
carry  a message  from  the  new  President  to  the  American 


314 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


people.  But  still  he  did  not  seem  to  understand  and  I began 
to  wonder  if  my  Spanish  was  at  fault.  After  I had  made 
the  third  attempt  to  explain  to  him  how  important  it  was 
for  me  to  see  the  Chief  Magistrate  and  find  out  his  attitude 
toward  things  American,  he  looked  at  me  in  a queer  way 
and  said,  “You  must  want  to  see  the  new  President.  It  is 
the  old  one  that  we  have  here  in  jail.”  As  I had  seen  the 
old  President  a few  weeks  before,  I had  no  desire  to  see  him 
again  and  hurried  on  up  to  the  house  of  President  Herrera, 
to  which  I was  directed,  where  I had  a long  interview  with 
him. 

“Tell  the  people  of  the  United  States  that  you  met  in 
Guatemala  a friend  of  the  Americans,”  said  Don  Carlos 
Herrera,  the  new  President,  when  I finally  found  him. 
“As  to  my  program,”  he  continued,  “in  two  words  it  is  to 
follow  as  closely  as  possible  the  development  of  democracy 
as  it  has  taken  place  in  the  United  States.  In  Guatemala 
we  have  everything  to  do  and  I know  of  no  better  way  of 
doing  it  than  studying  carefully  what  has  been  done  in  the 
United  States.  I have  for  a long  time  been  a great  admirer 
of  that  country.  My  two  boys  were  educated  there.  I have 
visited  the  country  myself ; have  for  a long  time  had  busi- 
ness connections  with  many  of  its  large  commercial  organi- 
zations, and  believe  thoroughly  that  the  best  thing  for  our 
country’s  development  is  to  maintain  cordial  relations  with 
the  United  States.” 

President  Herrera  is  a new  type  of  ruler  for  Guatemala. 
He  is  not  a military  man  or  even  a politician.  His  adminis- 
tration will  no  doubt  be  mainly  a business  administration, 
devoted  to  the  development  of  Guatemala’s  wonderful  eco- 
nomic resources. 

President  Herrera  was  anxious  for  me  to  see  his  Minis- 
ter of  Foreign  Affairs,  Senor  Aguirre,  in  order  to  talk  with 
him  more  in  detail  concerning  the  lines  along  which  the 
administration  would  like  the  help  of  the  United  States. 
The  Minister  is  a cultured  gentleman  who  has  traveled 
widely,  speaks  several  languages  and  is  in  every  way  a cos- 
mopolite. 

“We  must  have  the  help  of  the  United  States,”  said  Senor 
Aguirre,  “along  three  lines  particularly.  First,  we  need 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN  COUNTRIES  315 


your  moral  help.  In  the  past  Guatemaltecos  have  had  to 
hang  their  heads  because  of  the  utter  backwardness  of  their 
country  and  the  lack  of  liberty  we  have  enjoyed.  All  of 
this  must  be  changed.  We  must  come  out  into  modern  life. 
We  realize  that  fundamentally  our  problem  is  a moral  one 
and  we  are  not  strong  enough  to  cope  with  this  problem 
alone.  We  earnestly  hope  for  the  help  of  the  United  States 
in  the  development  of  our  moral  life.  Second,  we  need 
financial  help.  Guatemala  is  one  of  the  richest  countries  in 
the  world.  There  is  practically  nothing  that  we  cannot  pro- 
duce. We  have  not  only  the  finest  coffee  in  the  world  but 
wonderful  sugar  and  all  kinds  of  tropical  fruits.  There  is 
an  opportunity  to  further  develop  our  agriculture  and  also 
for  building  factories.  With  all  of  our  fruit,  canning  fac- 
tories would  give  splendid  results.  Our  water  power  fur- 
nishes great  opportunities  for  the  development  of  electricity. 
We  ought  to  have  several  North  American  banks  imme- 
diately. 

“There  is  also  an  opening  for  wholesale  and  retail  stores 
handling  exclusively  American  goods. 

“In  the  third  place  we  need  your  help  in  education.  Here 
almost  everything  is  to  be  done.  While  the  previous  ad- 
ministration pretended  to  be  a friend  of  education  and  erect- 
ed a certain  number  of  showy  buildings,  they  have  been  lit- 
tle more  than  shells.  The  education  of  the  more  than  a mil- 
lion Indians  in  our  population  is  in  itself  a tremendous  prob- 
lem. We  must  make  our  education  modern  and  to  whom 
can  we  look  for  help  so  much  as  to  the  United  States,  which 
has  advanced  so  rapidly  along  educational  lines  ? 

“My  idea  also  is  to  make  Guatemala  a modern  Mecca  for 
American  tourists.  We  have  one  of  the  finest  climates  in 
the  world,  some  of  the  most  beautiful  scenery,  with  moun- 
tains and  lakes  more  wonderful  than  those  of  Switzerland 
and  we  are  within  three  days  of  New  Orleans.  Our  policy 
is  to  throw  open  the  gates  to  all  friends  of  progress.  We 
want  the  world  to  come  and  see  us.” 

The  greatest  criticism  that  the  Guatemalan  people  had 
of  the  United  States  Government  during  the  exciting  days 
of  the  revolution  was  the  publication  in  the  Gautemalan 


316 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


press  of  a note  from  the  State  Department  which  indicated 
that  our  government  was  very  much  opposed  to  the  revolu- 
tion. The  revolutionary  forces  had  conducted  themselves 
in  a most  commendable  way.  The  reform  or  “Unionist” 
movement  represented  at  least  ninety  per  cent,  of  the  nation 
and  only  resorted  to  arms  when  Cabrera  had  cannonaded 
the  city.  It  did  not  therefore  seem  consistent  with  the  his- 
tory of  the  United  States  or  with  the  ideals  of  liberty  for 
which  we  stand  that  our  government  should  publish  a state- 
ment which  seemed  to  command  the  Guatemalans  not  to 
revolt  against  one  of  the  worst  tyrannies  to  which  a people 
were  ever  subjected. 

The  following  is  the  American  note  which  caused  such 
unfavorable  comment: 

“Mr.  Benton  McMillin,  Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Min- 
ister Plenipotentiary  of  the  United  States  of  America  to 
Guatemala,  after  the  issuance  of  the  President’s  proclama- 
tion, issued,  with  the  authority  of  his  government,  the  fol- 
lowing for  publication : 

“ ‘The  steady  policy  of  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  is  to  encourage  constitutional  government  and  free 
elections  in  Central  America.  Having  the  greatest  interest 
therefore  in  the  constitutional  progress  of  Guatemala,  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  has  learned  with  great 
pleasure  of  the  proclamation  of  President  Estrada  Cabrera 
regarding  constitutional  guarantees  and  has  confidence  in 
view  of  the  statements  just  made  to  this  Government  by 
President  Estrada  Cabrera,  that  he  will  faithfully  carry  out 
the  reforms  proclaimed. 

“ ‘The  Government  of  the  United  States  is  opposed  to 
revolutionary  measures  and  firmly  believes  in  view  of  Presi- 
dent Cabrera’s  proclamation  there  is  no  excuse  for  starting 
a revolutionary  movement  in  Guatemala  and  that  therefore 
in  the  eyes  of  the  civilized  world  the  gravest  responsibility 
would  rest  with  any  man  or  group  of  men  who  should  start 
such  a movement.  The  Government  of  the  United  States 
particularly  desires  to  see  peaceful  constitutional  progress 
in  Guatemala  and  would  regard  with  horror  any  actions 
which  should  cause  a needless  and  inexcusable  revolution  to 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN  COUNTRIES  317 


be  commenced  in  that  country.’  ” (From  Diario  de  Centro- 
America,  Guatemala,  April  5,  1920.) 

It  ought  to  be  said  that  this  note  was  published  by  Minis- 
ter McMillin  not  because  of  his  approval  of  its  contents 
but  by  order  of  superior  authority. 

Things  in  Guatemala  are  becoming  reorganized  and  there 
are  evidences  of  a new  day.  The  ordinary  revolution  in 
Central  America  is  an  opera-bouffe  affair,  but  this  upheaval 
in  Guatemala  has  been  justified  if  any  revolution  in  the 
world  was  ever  justified.  Many  of  the  men  who  are  now 
in  power  have  suffered  terrible  tortures  for  long  years  for 
the  sake  of  liberty.  They  have  learned  by  these  sufferings 
the  cost  of  liberty  and  it  is  hoped  that  they  will  work  for  a 
really  democratic  government  in  one  of  the  richest  countries 
of  all  the  Americas. 

CONCLUSIONS 

On  September  15,  1921,  Central  America  concluded  a 
century  of  independence  from  Spain.  This  event  was  cele- 
brated by  another  effort  at  Unity  which  has  resulted  in 
Guatemala,  El  Salvador  and  Honduras  definitely  setting 
up  a united  government  with  Tegucigalpa  as  the  capital. 
With  the  encouragement  of  the  United  States  no  doubt  the 
other  two  republics  would  enter  the  Union  and  assure  its 
success.  Past  failures  should  not  discourage,  for  Central 
America  is  fast  becoming  a new  land.  The  political  advance 
since  the  Washington  Convention  of  1907  has  been  remark- 
able. Revolutions,  fostered  in  adjoining  countries,  are 
becoming  more  scarce.  The  Zelayas  and  Cabreras  are 
gone,  never  to  return.  Best  of  all,  the  people  themselves 
are  changing.  No  longer  are  the  young  men  shut  up  to  a 
career  of  politics.  They  are  now  turning  their  attention  to 
commerce,  agriculture,  banking,  mining  and  other  industries. 
Let  us  hope  that  the  old  bone  of  contention,  the  canal  route, 
will  cease  to  be  the  disturbing  element  as  in  the  past.  States 
without  the  route  wanted  to  federate,  so  as  to  get  a piece 
of  the  pie,  and  the  state  with  the  route  wanted  the  whole 
benefit  of  it.  Ambitious  dictators  wanted  to  federate  for 


318 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


their  own  fortunes.  But  the  canal  has  been  built  in  Panama, 
and  the  concession  for  another  has  been  given  to  the  United 
States.  The  disputes  concerning  this  concession  are  easily- 
arbitrated,  so  that  the  question  of  canal  routes  should  no 
longer  disturb  the  Union.  In  personal  conversation  with 
the  leaders  of  the  various  countries  I found  practically  a 
unanimous  feeling  that  the  United  States  should  use  its  good 
offices  to  bring  about  and  support  this  Union.  This  she 
could  easily  do  without  appearing  officious.  In  fact,  we 
should  be  far  more  justified  in  showing  an  interest  in  such 
a worthy  object  than  we  have  been  in  imposing  our  will  in 
connection  with  canal  routes,  banks,  railroads  and  petroleum. 
One  of  the  strange  things  about  the  dealings  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  State,  with  the  Caribbean  countries,  is  its  great 
sensitiveness  in  interfering  with  the  affairs  of  a sister  nation 
by  way  of  encouraging  some  needed  educational,  moral  or 
political  reform  and,  on  the  other  hand,  its  readiness  to  land 
marines,  make  and  break  presidents,  and  all  the  rest  of  it 
for  “the  protection  of  life  and  property” — generally  with  a 
strong  emphasis  on  property,  possessed  or  desired. 

In  Central  America  I found  a different  attitude  toward 
the  United  States  from  that  in  any  other  part  of  the  South- 
land. There  seems  to  be  a rather  general  feeling  that  there 
is  no  use  of  longer  kicking  against  the  pricks.  The  North 
American  influence  must  remain  predominant  and  the  best 
thing  to  do  now  is  to  work  toward  making  it  a just  influ- 
ence. While  there  is  plenty  of  the  kind  of  prejudice  that 
Ugarte  and  his  school  stand  for  in  other  parts  of  Latin 
America,  and  there  is  much  resentment  at  direct  interference 
with  the  internal  affairs  of  the  various  countries,  especially 
in  regard  to  the  presence  of  the  marines  in  Nicaragua  and 
the  Bryan-Chamorro  treaty  with  that  country,  the  reason- 
ing of  the  average  man  seems  to  run  something  like  this : 
“Our  economic  life  must  necessarily  depend  very  closely  on 
the  United  States.  We  need  the  help  of  the  United  States 
in  stabilizing  our  political  life.  We  do  not  object  to  receiv- 
ing such  helpful  influence.  But  what  does  keep  us  continu- 
ally resentful  is  the  use  of  the  marines  to  protect  foreign 
investors  and  keep  in  power  an  administration  that  is  des- 
potic, while  doing  nothing  toward  helping  the  people  in  gen- 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN  COUNTRIES  319 


eral  to  better  their  condition.  Let  your  influence  be  toward 
a positive  program  of  improving  our  political,  economic, 
educational  and  social  life,  not  in  suppressing  self-expres- 
sion and  just  nationalism.  If  you  assume  the  authority  to 
say  we  cannot  have  revolutions,  then  you  must  also  assume 
the  authority  to  compel  our  rulers,  whom  you  protect,  to 
give  us  political  and  economic  justice.  We  are  independent 
nations  and  we  would  like  to  run  our  own  affairs.  But  we 
admit  that  economically  we  are  bound  inseparably  to  you; 
politically  we  need  your  steadying  influence  to  bring  all 
Central  America  into  harmonious  cooperative  relations ; 
and  morally  we  need  your  stimulating  example.  But  do  not 
force  this  on  us.  Help  us  to  keep  our  self-respect  and  our 
national  honor  while  you  help  us  to  rid  ourselves  of  the 
tyranny  of  our  caudillos,  of  our  individualism,  our  graft  and 
our  inertia.  Please,  Mr.  Great  Big  Yankee  Man,  we  know 
we  need  your  capital  and  your  powerful  influence  and  we 
do  admire  you  for  many  things,  but  please,  fewer  marines, 
fewer  one-sided  treaties,  fewer  demands  for  economic  ex- 
ploitation, and  more  help  in  developing  the  things  that  have 
made  your  own  fine  nation  great.” 

The  way  in  which  practical  service  is  appreciated  by  the 
Central  Americans  is  illustrated  by  the  following  editorial 
from  El  Diario  of  Guatemala  (March,  1920) : 

“The  United  States  has  shown  herself  in  other  important 
ways  as  above  the  suspicions  of  ‘dollar  diplomacy’  and  the 
‘big  stick.’  In  each  of  these  ways  there  are  displayed  enough 
noble  and  altruistic  ideas  to  erase  jealousies  and  hatreds. 
More  important  than  political  treaties,  than  the  solemn 
promises  of  friendship  and  love,  than  congresses  and  con- 
ferences, the  great  cultural  endeavors  of  North  America 
have  contributed  to  the  drawing  together  of  the  Americas. 
The  truth  of  what  we  say  is  proven  by  the  great  work  done 
in  all  parts  of  the  continent  by  the  Rockefeller  Institute  and 
evangelical  missions. 

“It  is  not  necessary  to  mention  the  discretion  with  which 
these  have  carried  on  their  work.  No  one  ignores  the  posi- 
tive benefit  which  the  Rockefeller  Institute  has  brought 
about.  Its  work  has  not  been  unilateral.  In  combatting  the 


320 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


hookworm  and  penetrating  to  the  most  remote  parts  of  the 
tropics  it  has  propagated  the  truth  concerning  popular  hy- 
giene everywhere.  It  has  endeavored  to  teach  cleanliness 
to  the  Indians,  that  they  should  understand  the  healthful- 
ness of  bathing,  the  necessity  of  privies,  and  of  eating  only 
healthful  foods.  The  Institute  has  gone  from  farm  to 
farm,  from  house  to  house,  while  its  officers  in  the  cities 
and  more  important  towns  have  not  rested  a single  minute 
in  the  work  of  examining  the  sick,  distributing  medicines 
and  interesting  a vast  circle  of  people  in  its  work.  The  re- 
sults obtained  could  not  be  more  satisfactory,  as  can  be 
seen  by  the  statistical  tables  published  by  the  Foundation. 

“Although  less  in  evidence,  but  not  for  this  reason  less 
important,  especially  for  our  mental  and  moral  progress, 
has  been  the  work  of  evangelical  missions.  By  means  of 
ministers  splendidly  educated  and  really  moral,  American 
Protestantism,  giving  itself  to  the  humanitarian  endeavor  of 
liberating  our  masses  from  their  ignorance,  has  carried  for- 
ward the  splendid  good  news  of  a pure  and  human-hearted 
religion  to  a large  part  of  our  people. 

“Thanks  to  heroic  patience  Protestant  missions  have  at- 
tained notable  triumphs.  To-day  seed  sown  is  beginning  to 
bear  fruit.  In  many  humble  people  a real  religious  senti- 
ment, reflective  and  tolerant,  is  beginning  to  be  substituted 
for  the  absurdities  of  fanaticism  and  the  intolerance  of  the 
past.  The  Sunday  preachings  of  the  evangelical  pastors  have 
been,  at  the  same  time,  happy  means  of  propagating  ideas 
against  crime  and  vice. 

“Latin  America  knows  how  to  appreciate  all  that  has 
come  from  these  humanitarian  institutions.” 

Summing  up,  my  first  hand  observations  in  the  Carib- 
bean countries  have  led  me  to  the  following  conclusions : 

1.  The  economic  and  political  life  of  these  countries  is 
held  in  the  hollow  of  the  hand  of  the  United  States.  Wheth- 
er or  not  either  party  likes  it,  modern  relationships  of  life 
make  it  inevitable.  Something  very  similar  to  a colonial 
problem  is  therefore  presented. 

2.  The  lack  of  recognition  of  this  close  relationship  and 
the  lack  of  a colonial  experience  and  the  employment  of  an 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN  COUNTRIES  321 


opportunist  policy  have  led  us  into  mistakes  that  made  in- 
tervention, even  when  justified,  much  more  resented  than 
was  necessary. 

3.  Failure  to  announce  openly  a definite  policy  and  leav- 
ing matters  largely  to  the  military  has  led  to  a policy  of 
suppression  rather  than  of  constructive  helpfulness. 

4.  Intervention,  being  principally  to  conserve  order,  pro- 
tect American  investors  and  ward  off  European  interfer- 
ence, the  reactionary  parties  in  the  various  countries  are  too 
often  sustained,  liberal  elements  are  shut  off  from  any  means 
of  effectual  protest  against  flagrant  abuses  of  such  authori- 
ties, and  the  help  of  the  interventors  is  too  often  confined 
to  material  matters,  with  little  consideration  given  to  edu- 
cational development. 

I would  respectfully  suggest  that  steps  along  the  follow- 
ing lines  would  help  in  solving  this  important  problem  of 
developing  and  maintaining  friendly  relations  with  the  Car- 
ibbean countries : 

1.  Withdrawal  of  United  States  marines  from  countries 
where  they  are  now  stationed. 

2.  Elimination  of  press  censorship  in  countries  where  it 
is  now  maintained  and  the  encouraging  of  free  discussion 
both  in  the  United  States  and  the  other  countries  concerned, 
so  that  the  people  may  publicly  determine  and  frankly  avow 
the  policies  of  relationships. 

3.  A strong  department,  with  recognized  responsibility, 
in  the  United  States  Government  to  study  conditions  and 
advise  the  Executive  and  Legislative  powers  concerning  re- 
lations between  this  country  and  smaller  nations  which  have 
become  specially  dependent  upon  us.  This  department  could 
well  have  an  advisory  committee  made  up  of  some  outstand- 
ing private  citizens  who  are  in  a position  to  aid  in  such  work. 
Immediate  economic,  educational  and  social  surveys  should 
be  made  to  determine  the  exact  situation  and  needs  of  the 
various  countries. 

4.  The  signing  of  treaties  between  the  United  States  and 
certain  Caribbean  countries,  based  on  clear  consent  of  the 
people,  which  will  recognize  the  sovereignty  of  the  smaller 
nation  and  explicitly  define  what  the  stronger  nation  may 
and  may  not  do  toward  giving  needed  help  in  stabilizing 


322 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


government,  insuring  fair  elections,  strengthening  finances, 
improving  sanitation  and  public  works  and  developing  edu- 
cation. 

5.  Special  care  should  be  exercised  by  the  United  States 
government  in  the  selection  of  broad-minded,  sympathetic 
officials,  trained  especially  for  the  type  of  work  they  are 
sent  to  accomplish  in  these  countries. 

6.  Special  efforts  by  educational,  social,  philanthropic  and 
religious  foundations  and  organizations  in  the  United  States 
to  extend  the  work  to  these  countries,  carefully  adapting  it 
to  local  psychology  and  avoiding  a patronizing  or  “Ameri- 
canizing” attitude. 

7.  Cultivation  on  the  part  of  the  North  Americans  of  an 
appreciation  of  the  history,  literature,  social  life  and  prob- 
lems of  these  southern  neighbors. 

References 

Arguello,  Leonardo:  El  Caso  Nicaragua. 

Blakeslee,  Geo.  H.  (Editor)  : Mexico  and  the  Caribbean. 
Bonsal,  Stephen  : The  American  Mediterranean. 

Important  discussions  on  this  subject  will  be  found  in  the  issues 
of  1920  and  1921  of  the  following  magazines:  The  Nation, 
Current  History,  Hispanic  American  Historical  Review  and 
La  Reforma  Social. 

Inman,  Samuel  G. : Through  Santo  Domingo  and  Haiti. 

Jones,  C.  L. : Caribbean  Interests  of  the  United  States. 

Latane:  The  United  States  and  Latin  America,  Chapters  III, 
IV,  VII. 

Monroe,  Dana  G. : Five  Republics  of  Central  America. 
Oreanumo,  J.  Rafael:  La  Caida  del  Gobierno  Constitucional  en 
Costa  Rica. 

Shoens,  Geo.  T. : Report  on  Public  School  System  of  Nicaragua. 
Slade,  William  F. : The  Federation  of  Central  America. 
Schoenrich,  Otto  : Santo  Domingo,  A Country  with  a Future. 

Urena,  Henriquez  : Los  Estados  Unidos  y La  Republica  Domini- 
cana. 

Valentine,  L.  G. : Meddling  with  Our  Neighbors,  Century  Maga- 
zine, 1914. 

World  Peace  Foundation:  The  New  Pan  Americanism,  III. 


Chapter  IX 

PAN  AMERICANISM  VS.  PAN  LATINISM 


North  Americans  are  likely  to  conceive  of  all  Hispanic 
Americans  taking  the  same  attitude  toward  every  question 
and  all  belonging  to  the  same  school  of  thought.  But  men 
in  those  countries  differ  as  widely  and  as  violently  as  they 
do  in  other  parts  of  the  world.  Political  parties  are  most 
likely  to  be  divided  into  Conservatives  and  Liberals  or  Cleri- 
cals and  Anti-Clericals.  But  when  it  comes  to  questions  of 
international  relations,  education,  literature  and  all  cultural 
subjects,  intellectual  circles  can  generally  be  divided  into 
Pan  Latinists  and  Pan  Americans.  This  means  more  than 
that  one  school  believes  in  a cultural  and  possibly  a political 
entente  with  the  mother  country  and  the  other  believes  in 
close  relations  with  North  America.  It  means  that  the  mem- 
bers of  one  school  have  their  whole  philosophy  of  life  per- 
meated with  the  belief  that  national  life  will  be  strengthened 
to  the  degree  that  the  glories  of  the  Latin  race,  its  language, 
its  classical  literature,  its  educational  theories,  its  social  cus- 
toms and  its  ancient  standards  of  individual  conduct  are 
maintained.  The  other  school  is  equally  sure  that  the 
strength  of  national  life  lies  in  breaking  away  from  old 
Latin  traditions,  striking  out  into  new  paths,  adopting  new 
educational  standards,  new  social  customs  and  new  interna- 
tional alignments,  the  United  States  being  admittedly  the 
friend  to  be  cultivated  and  the  example  to  be  followed.  The 
longer  one  lives  in  Hispanic  America  the  more  impressed 
he  is  with  the  fact  that  as  between  these  two,  the  school  of 
thought  to  which  a man  belongs  affects  the  way  he  regards 
practically  all  of  life’s  problems. 

In  the  early  days  of  independent  life  the  Pan  American 
school  was  most  in  evidence.  The  admiration  for  the  United 
States  entertained  by  the  young  Hispanic  American  coun- 

323 


324 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


tries  was  so  great  that,  in  spite  of  their  unpreparedness  for 
the  North  American  form  of  government,  they  copied  it  al- 
most entirely.  The  admiration  of  the  great  Bolivar  as  well 
as  his  political  wisdom  are  seen  in  the  following  words 
among  many  others  that  might  be  cited : 

“The  example  of  the  United  States,  because  of  its  won- 
derful prosperity,  was  too  prominent  not  to  be  emulated. 
Who  can  resist  the  victorious  attraction  of  a full  and  abso- 
lute enjoyment  of  sovereignty,  independence  and  liberty? 
Who  can  resist  the  love  that  inspires  such  intelligent  govern- 
ment, that,  combines  at  one  and  the  same  time  private  rights 
with  general  rights,  that  makes  the  common  will  the  supreme 
law  of  the  individual  will?  Who  can  resist  the  rule  of  a 
beneficent  government  that  with  an  able,  active  and  powerful 
head  ever  and  everywhere  guides  all  its  springs  of  action 
toward  social  perfection  which  is  the  sole  end  of  human 
institutions?” 

Sarmiento  was  another  of  the  early  admirers  of  the 
United  States.  In  his  introduction  to  his  “Vida  de  Lin- 
coln,” he  said: 

“South  America  lacks  antecedents  of  government  in  her 
own  colonial  history,  for  she  must  not  go  to  ask  light  of 
Felipe  II  or  Fernando  VII  upon  the  art  of  governing.  Noth- 
ing better  would  be  given  us  by  France,  whose  publicists  can 
only  be  pardoned,  like  the  Magdalen,  for  their  much  loving. 
The  political  school  for  South  America  is  in  the  United 
States,  as  the  sharer  of  English  liberties,  as  the  creator  of 
a government  absolutely  free  and  strong,  which  in  peace 
has  built  up  the  most  prosperous  nation  of  the  earth  and  in 
war  has  displayed  resources,  has  gathered  armies,  invented 
weapons  and  obtained  laurels  that  open  a new  page  in  the 
history  of  modern  war,  making  the  ancient  wars  seem 
small.” 


THE  PAN  LATIN  SCHOOL 

But  the  leaders  among  the  literary  men  of  the  last  quarter 
of  a century  have  been  mostly  hostile  to  the  United  States. 


PAN  AMERICANISM  VS.  PAN  LATINISM  325 


The  average  citizen  of  the  United  States  will  find  it  diffi- 
cult to  believe  that  the  Pan  Latin  school  was  particularly 
strengthened  by  our  war  with  Spain.  We  think  of  it  as 
the  greatest  proof  of.  our  friendship  to  Hispanic  America. 
They  think  of  it  as  another  example  of  the  hostility  of  the 
United  States,  a reason  for  a closer  drawing  together  of  the 
Latin  races.  They  have  sometimes  gone  so  far  as  to 
advocate  an  alliance  with  Japan  and  other  supposed 
enemies  of  the  United  States,  simply  because  this  would 
weaken  the  United  States  and  therefore  help  Latin  America. 
A part  of  their  program  has  been  the  uniting  of  all  Latin 
America  in  order  to  oppose  their  northern  enemy,  thus 
bringing  into  America  the  balance  of  power  which  has  been 
the  curse  of  Europe. 

Let  us  pick  out  a few  of  the  outstanding  representatives 
of  the  Pan  Latinist  school,  most  of  whom  have  been  also 
very  active  in  promoting  opposition  to  and  misunderstand- 
ing of  the  United  States.  To  the  North  American  these 
writers  will  often  seem  so  ridiculous  and  childish  that 
they  are  not  worthy  of  attention.  But  it  is  a great  mistake 
for  us  to  ignore  them,  for  they  constitute  the  outstanding 
influences  in  modern  Hispanic  American  literature.  Among 
the  writers  of  the  school  may  be  mentioned  the  ultra-radi- 
cal Yankee  haters  like  Manuel  Ugarte,  Rufino  Blanco-Fom- 
bona,  Vargas  Vila  and  Carlos  Pereyra,  and  the  more  meas- 
ured critics  like  Garcia  Calderon,  Jose  Enrique  Rodo,  Fed- 
erico Garcia  Godoy,  Jose  Marti  and  Eugenio  de  Hostos. 
Most  of  these  men  have  been  sincere  in  their  conviction  that 
the  United  States  constituted  the  greatest  danger  for  the 
countries  conquered  and  colonized  by  the  Iberian  nations 
either  because  of  the  tendency  to  copy  the  cold,  materialistic 
northern  civilization  or  because  the  North  actually  had 
designs  on  their  national  territory.  Others  have  been 
swayed  by  personal  animosities  and  by  ulterior  motives  that 
sometimes  have  been  clearly  traceable  to  commercial  influ- 
ences. 

It  will  be  observed  that  there  are  two  lines  of  argument 
used  by  these  writers.  The  one  is  philosophical,  based  on 
the  difference  of  race,  and  the  supremacy  of  Latin  culture 
and  idealism  over  Saxon  uncouthness  and  materialism.  The 


S26 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


other  line  of  argument  is  historical,  based  on  the  imperial- 
istic advance  of  the  United  States  in  the  past  and  its  alleged 
future  designs  upon  the  South.  Probably  those  who  hold 
aloof  for  philosophical  and  sentimental  reasons  are  more 
easily  converted  than  those  who  fear  the  imperialistic  mo- 
tives of  their  powerful  neighbor.  As  a great  Argentine  phi- 
losopher expressed  it  to  me  in  1917,  in  speaking  of  the  ne- 
cessity of  all  America  standing  together  against  European 
aggression:  “By  sentiment  we  hate  you  North  Americans, 
by  reason  we  love  you.”  It  is  well  for  those  citizens  of  the 
United  States  who  are  interested  in  combating  anti-Ameri- 
can propaganda  and  developing  a real  friendship  with  His- 
panic Americans,  not  because  Americans,  North  or  South, 
are  perfect  but  because  it  is  better  for  all  concerned  that 
neighbors  be  friends — it  is  well  for  us  to  keep  clearly  before 
uS  these  two  aspects  of  Hispanic  America’s  complaint 
against  us.  While  we  cannot  admit  for  a moment  all  our 
critics  say  on  either  of  these  counts,  yet  there  is  room  for 
improvement  in  both,  and  much  room  for  explanation  to  our 
Southern  friends  where  they  misjudge  us  both  as  to  our 
ideals  and  our  practices. 

It  may  not  always  be  correct  to  link  together  the  school 
of  Pan  Latinists  with  the  anti-Yankee  propagandists.  But 
the  following  from  F.  Garcia  Godoy,  a Dominican,  written 
before  the  United  States  established  military  control  of 
Santo  Domingo,  seems  to  represent  pretty  well  the  feelings 
of  this  school.  He  says  there  are  two  great  dangers  to  Latin 
America : 

(1)  The  loss  of  the  “common  soul”  of  all  the  Latin 
American  nations,  which  is  found  in  the  possession  of  com- 
mon ethnic  bases,  common  language,  common  customs.  But 
all  of  this  common  possession  may  be  lost  by  the  constant 
inflowing  of  exotic  influences  which  by  necessity  have 
brought  substantial  modifications  in  this  ethnic  foundation 
and  in  the  collective  mentality.  In  nations  like  Chile  and 
Argentina,  because  of  the  immense  immigration,  the  senti- 
ment of  nationalism  is  being  eradicated,  which  sentiment  is 
the  only  thing  that  gives  personality  to  these  nations  as  dis- 
tinct from  Spain.  It  seems  as  though  these  countries  are 


PAN  AMERICANISM  VS.  PAN  LATINISM  327 


fortunately  beginning  to  legislate  against  these  tendencies. 

(2)  The  second  great  danger  for  Latin  America,  how- 
ever, is  Yankee  imperialism,  a thing  which  the  keenest  minds 
of  Latin  America  and  Europe  see  as  threatening  the  auton- 
omy of  the  nations  situated  most  closely  to  the  United 
States.  “In  a recent  book  the  Uruguayan  writer,  Luis  Al- 
berto Herrera,  argues  that  we  ought  to  take  as  our  model 
the  United  States.  This  is  the  worst  kind  of  advice.  There 
is  in  the  United  States  a different  way  of  looking  upon  life 
from  that  of  Latin  America,  and  it  seems  to  me,  that  since 
Latins  are  formed  by  undeniably  diverse  spiritual  influences 
from  those  which  have  developed  North  American  psychol- 
ogy, that  Yankee  imitation  would  therefore  bring  a foolish 
and  harmful  extension  of  all  that  particularizes  and  distin- 
guishes us  as  a people  molded  by  the  glorious  Latin  civiliza- 
tion. 

“North  America’s  race  prejudices,  her  utilitarianism,  her 
lack  of  a certain  noble  and  life-giving  idealism,  will  always 
cause  that  race  to  remain  distant  from  us.  In  the  United 
States  the  immense  majority  of  the  press  show  prejudices 
entirely  unfavorable  to  the  Hispanic  American  people.  There 
are  a few  spirits  that  do  us  justice  * * * but  the  majority  of 
the  press,  every  time  there  is  a revolution  in  one  of  our  coun- 
tries, accuse  us  of  being  unable  to  govern  ourselves,  forget- 
ting the  good  examples  of  Chile,  Argentina,  Brazil  and  • 
Costa  Rica.  This  is  the  reason  why  we  should  work  con- 
stantly to  invigorate  the  sentiment  of  nationalism  and  create 
an  environment  entirely  refractory  to  imperialistic  Yankee 
influence  in  our  political  life.” 

“Ariel,”  by  Jose  Enrique  Rodo,  has  probably  given  more 
weight  to  the  anti-American  feeling  in  Hispanic  Amer- 
ica than  any  other  piece  of  literature.  It  is  one  of  the  great 
classics  of  the  South  and  because  of  its  elegant  style  and 
the  literary  merit  of  its  author  its  influence  has  been  tremen- 
dous and  its  teachings  have  been  exaggerated.  In  this  book 
the  author  warns  his  fellow-men  against  imitation  of  the 
United  States.  Though  he  acknowledges  the  contributions 
that  the  United  States  have  made  toward  modern  civiliza- 
tion yet  he  believes  that  we  are  a purely  materialistic  nation 


328 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


without  a soul  and  that  it  behooves  the  Hispanic  Americans 
to  guard  their  idealism  lest  it  be  destroyed  by  our  influence. 
He  concludes  by  expressing  the  hope  that  “the  spirit  of  that 
titanic  social  organism,  which  has  thus  far  been  character- 
ized by  will  and  utility  alone,  may  some  day  be  that  of  in- 
telligence, sentiment,  and  idealism.” 

Rufino  Blanco-Fombona,  in  writing  an  introduction  to 
the  book,  “El  Crimen  de  W.  Wilson,”  says : “Here  Wilson 
is  selected  as  an  illustration  of  the  Yankee  policy  in  its  rela- 
tions to  Latin  America.”  The  great  lesson  of  this  book 
consists  in  revealing  that  which  he  says  Latin  America 
should  never  lose  sight  of : That  it  is  not  Wilson  or  Taft, 
nor  the  ridiculous  Roosevelt,  not  any  president,  not  the  Re- 
publicans nor  the  Democrats,  not  any  party  present  or  fu- 
ture, that  is  the  enemy  of  America,  but  that  the  traditional 
enemy,  present  and  future,  of  America  is  the  Republic  of 
the  United  States.”  Here  are  two  races  facing  one  an- 
other, one  of  Latin  origin,  the  other  of  Saxon  origin;  two 
Americas,  one  born  in  southern  Europe,  the  other  in  north- 
ern Europe;  two  conceptions  of  life,  the  idealistic  and  the 
Sancho  Panza ; two  sects,  Catholicism  and  Protestantism ; 
two  social  ideas,  individualism  and  solidarity;  two  civiliza- 
tions, that  of  the  Mediterranean  and  that  of  the  region  of 
the  Northern  Lights. 

Garcia  Calderon  discussed  the  difference  between  the  two 
Americas  as  follows : 

“There  exist  two  forms  of  Americanism,  Saxon  and  Latin, 
which  it  is  impossible  to  reduce  to  a unity.  The  republics  of 
the  South  have  a tradition  and  history  which  are  also  Amer- 
ican. They  are  American  on  account  of  the  territory  in 
which  the  political  life  of  these  democracies  is  developed, 
with  greater  reason  than  is  the  North,  where  the  conquerors 
annihilated  the  indigenous  races. 

“We  call  ‘American’  the  Iberian  nations  of  whose  develop- 
ment the  Indians  and  Meztizos  are  authors.  On  the  other 
hand,  Americanism  symbolizes  the  new  life,  undisciplined 
and  spontaneous,  in  opposition  to  harmonious  European 
culture.  The  United  States  are  considered  by  refined  Euro- 
peans as  a people  hostile  to  art,  to  form  and  to  grace.  These 


PAN  AMERICANISM  VS.  PAN  LATINISM  329 


barbarous  people  without  history,  conquer  with  accumulated 
gold  and  prosaic  struggle,  the  ideal  human  riches.  North 
Americans  are  those  transatlantics  whom  Abel  Hermant 
describes  in  his  notable  satire : ‘They  collect  in  palaces  of 
bric-a-brac,  the  treasures  stolen  from  Greek  masterpieces 
and  their  audacious  canvases  of  the  imperious  Icons  from 
Moscow  and  jewels  from  Florence.’  This  Americanism  is 
reduced  to  the  worship  of  gold,  to  violent  monotony,  to  the 
love  of  the  grotesque,  to  utilitarianism,  which  measures  with 
a common  leveler — the  dollar — the  virtue  of  Lucretia,  the 
talent  of  Newton  and  the  beauty  of  Venus  de  Milo. 

“The  Yankees  of  Hermant  are  ‘great  athletic  and  rosy- 
cheeked  babies’  who  come  to  Europe  in  order  to  acquire 
genealogies  and  to  oppose  their  turbulent  youth  to  the  glori- 
ous age  of  the  western  nations.  They  believe  that  they 
speak  better  than  the  Saxons  of  Europe,  ‘the  pure  English 
language.’  They  love  excessive  finery.  They  aspire  to  gain 
all  of  the  records  for  spending,  for  noise  and  for  scandal. 
‘In  America,’  says  Henry  Shaw,  the  American  representa- 
tive, ‘we  generally  have  catastrophes  worthy  of  the  name, 
‘the  most  terrible  catastrophes  of  the  world.’  And  so  with 
reference  to  floods,  fires  and  multitudes.  Compared  to  North 
Americans  those  of  the  South  appear  a mature  race.  They 
are  less  youthful  and  less  ingenuous.  Instructed  by  French 
and  Spanish  books,  under  Latin  influences,  they  do  not  pre- 
tend before  Mother  Europe  the  irreverent  attitude  of  the 
enriched  Yankee,  the  burlesque,  the  irony,  the  light  peri- 
odicalism  which  Roosevelt  attacked  in  the  Sorbonne,  in  the 
name  of  optimism,  and  of  the  strenuous  life.” 

Again  he  says : “Pan  Americanism  has  a territorial  sig- 
nificance. Geography  and  commercial  advantages  contribute 
to  it.  But  Pan  Iberianism  is  a tendency  of  race.  It  re- 
stores old  bonds  of  a moral  character  which  have  been  for- 
gotten because  of  time. 

“However,  Pan  Iberianism  will  with  great  difficulty  be- 
come a unified  force.  Contrast  the  force  of  the  intellectual 
minority  with  the  ignorance  of  the  Spanish  people  concerning 
Latin  American  subjects.  The  Latin  American  is  a person 
to  disdain.  In  vain  emigrants  return  loaded  down  with  gold. 
The  nation  looks  down  upon  those  colonies  that  oppose  with 


330 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


their  abundance  of  riches  the  proud  poverty  of  Hidalgo. 
The  new  continent  is  not  yet  popular  in  the  old  world.  It  is 
far  away.  It  is  very  indistinct.  Against  these  young  preach- 
ers of  fraternity  some  writers  of  Cuba  have  developed  an 
exaggerated  nationalism.  Fernando  Ortiz,  professor  in  the 
University  of  Havana,  finds  in  Spanish  ambitions  a plan  to 
reconquer  America.” 

Among  the  choice  specimens  of  indictment  by  Rufino 
Blanco  Fombona  is  the  following: 

“The  people  of  the  United  States,  before  their  war  with 
Mexico  were  a people  without  militaristic  and  imperialistic 
ambitions,  the  model  of  the  home  of  civil  liberty.  All  of 
South  America  admired  them,  with  the  same  ardor  with 
which  to-day  they  detest  them,  because  of  their  fraudulent 
elections,  their  trusts,  their  Tammany  Hall,  the  loose  cus- 
toms of  their  women,  their  treachery  in  business,  their  ridicu- 
lous, wordy  and  symbolical  Colonel  Roosevelt,  their  shirt- 
sleeve diplomacy,  their  professors  in  universities  who  write 
concerning  Latin  America  with  supine  ignorance,  their  sink- 
ing of  the  ‘Maine,’  the  secession  of  Panama,  the  taking  over 
of  the  finances  of  Honduras,  the  taking  over  of  the  customs 
of  Santo  Domingo,  the  blood  which  they  spilled  and  the 
independence  which  they  annulled  in  Nicaragua,  the  revolu- 
tions which  they  fomented  in  Mexico  and  the  disembarking 
in  Vera  Cruz,  their  claiming  of  81  million  pesos  from 
Venezuela,  when  in  reality  she  only  owed  them  2 million, 
their  recognition  of  a foreign  arbitration,  their  demanding 
of  the  Alsop  claim  in  Chile,  their  little-disguised  desire  for 
the  Galapagos  Islands  of  Ecuador  and  the  Chinese  Islands 
of  Peru ; the  daily  affirmation  that  the  Argentine  statesmen 
should  not  be  believed;  the  pretension  of  preventing  Brazil 
from  a valorization  of  her  coffee;  for  the  seizing  of  Porto 
Rico ; for  the  Platt  Amendment  of  the  Constitution  of  Cuba ; 
for  having  converted  her  cables  and  her  periodicals  into  an 
office  to  discredit  all  and  each  of  the  republics  of  America; 
for  their  aggressive  imperialism  and  all  their  conduct  in 
respect  to  America,  from  the  last  half  century  up  to  the 
present.” 


PAN  AMERICANISM  VS.  PAN  LATINISM  331 


A leading  Brazilian  journalist,  Madeiros  d’Albuquerque, 
thus  unbosoms  himself  of  his  North  American  impressions 
upon  returning  to  Rio  de  Janeiro  after  a visit  to  the  United 
States  during  the  war. 

“I  return  from  the  United  States  with  much  enthusiasm 
for  England,  Italy,  France,  Belgium,  Japan,  and  perhaps 
above  all,  Mexico.”  He  accuses  the  United  States  of  “fo- 
menting revolutions”  in  Mexico,  and  declares  that:  “Brazil 
is  considered  by  the  United  States  only  as  a possible  future 
colony.  The  United  States  wants  to  obtain  as  part  of  the 
payment  of  the  debt  of  France  and  England  a bond  for 
Brazil’s  debt  to  those  powers.  On  the  day  this  is  realized, 
Brazil  will  be  sold  to  the  United  States,  which,  on  the  first 
occasion  when  we  fail  to  meet  the  interest,  will  do  to  us  as 
she  has  done  to  Central  American  nations.”  Sefior  Albu- 
querque belittles  the  part  the  United  States  took  in  the  late 
war,  attacks  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  ridicules  President  Wil- 
son’s activities  at  the  Peace  Conference,  and  concludes  by 
saying:  “The  United  States  is  incontestably  the  Prussia  of 
to-morrow.” 

Most  Colombians  have  a poor  opinion  of  us  and  Senor 
J.  M.  Vargas  Vila,  the  novelist,  is  certainly  no  exception. 
The  title  of  one  of  his  latest  books  well  describes  its  contents, 
the  volume  being  called  “Against  the  Barbarians.  The 
Yankee — Behold  the  Enemy.”  That  Senor  Vila  handles  us 
without  gloves  will  be  seen  from  the  following  excerpts  from 
his  coruscating  pages : 

“The  Yankees  are  giving  themselves  over  to  the  division 
and  plunder  of  Latin  America — the  Yankee  has  chosen  well 
his  hour,  this  tragic  and  crepuscular  hour,  in  which  none 
can  go  in  aid  of  the  peoples  he  is  devouring;  the  Yankee  has 
exploited  the  European  War  as  if  it  were  a mine.  Why  not 
make  Latin  America  see  what,  in  reality,  this  race  and  peo- 
ple are?  A lustful  race,  hostile  and  contemptuous,  a count- 
less people,  spurious  and  cruel,  insolent  and  depreciatory 
toward  us,  with  a monstrous  idea  of  their  superiority  and  an 
unconquerable  desire  for  conquest.  They  are  the  men  of 
the  North,  the  descendants  of  the  Norsemen,  of  the  pirates 


332 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


of  the  Baltic,  who  in  roughly  built  boats  crossed  the  black 
waters  under  a misty  sky,  to  begin  the  pillage  of  peoples; 
they  are  the  descendants  of  the  worst  beggars  of  Albion  and 
Germany,  who  emigrated  to  America,  became  powerful,  and 
who  to-day  feel  in  them  the  vibrations  of  all  the  atavisms  of 
their  adventurous  race ; what  happened  in  Cuba  was  but  the 
prologue  of  a drama — the  conquest  of  America.  The 
Yankee  race,  proud  and  mean;  a race  of  sensual  dreamers, 
avaricious  and  cruel.  It  is  necessary  to  combat  the  Yankee 
or  frankly  declare  ourselves  his  slaves;  it  is  necessary  that 
we  unite  ourselves  against  the  Yankee;  it  is  necessary  that 
from  Mexico  to  Cape  Horn  there  be  but  one  brain  to  com- 
bat him,  one  arm  to  resist  him,  one  heart  to  hate  him.  Hate 
for  the  Yankee  should  be  our  motto  since  that  hate  is  our 
duty.” 

One  of  the  most  widely  read  magazines  of  Latin  America 
is  Nuestra  America,  published  in  Buenos  Aires.  The  lead- 
ing editorial  in  the  September,  1920,  number  is  as  follows: 

“Spanish  Americans,  free  men,  soldiers  of  a real  democ- 
racy, dreamers,  poets,  haters  of  all  that  is  mercenary!  Ye 
in  whose  spirits  are  amalgamated  the  courtesy  of  France, 
the  honor  of  Spain  and  the  artistic  spirit  of  Italy,  ye,  who 
turn  your  steps  toward  the  day  of  equity  and  of  justice,  hear 
me ! A free  nation,  blood  of  our  blood,  a nation  of  small 
territory  but  great  soul,  Santo  Domingo,  quivers  in  agony 
under  the  claws  of  a covetous,  greedy,  mercantile  land, — a 
conquering  nation  which  makes  its  conquests  with  the  dollar, 
not  the  sword,  for  that  is  too  noble  for  it  and  would  be  dan- 
gerous. Santo  Domingo  bound  down  a prisoner  in  the 
snares  of  base  intrigue,  stretched  for  it  with  all  cunning, 
is  in  desperate  straits,  crying  out  for  her  threatened  indepen- 
dence. The  statesmen  of  that  sister  nation  of  ours,  the 
journalists,  the  writers,  all  her  sons,  indeed,  have  sent  forth 
a cry  of  alarm  to  their  brethren,  a cry  that  calls  for  our  help, 
our  cooperation.  Her  cause  is  ours,  it  is  that  of  every  free 
nation  of  Latin  America.  Let  us  hear  them,  let  us  hasten 
to  join  their  ranks,  let  us  with  them  lift  up  the  cry  of  pro- 
test. Mexico,  torn  and  bloody,  is  a palpable  example  of 


PAN  AMERICANISM  VS.  PAN  LATINISM  333 


what  North  American  greed  means,  the  first  victim  in  a 
great  conspiracy  of  intrigue. 

“We  must  forget  for  an  instant  our  immediate  interests 
and  turn  all  our  attention  to  the  painful,  tortuous  drama 
which  is  developing  over  there  in  that  land  no  longer  free 
of  Santo  Domingo.  It  is  a member  of  our  family  which 
the  invading  giant  is  chastising.  Is  it  possible  that  in  the 
presence  of  such  an  affront  we  should  remain  indifferent? 
Are  we  peoples  organized  into  nations  or  are  we  mere  tribes? 
If  we  are  peoples  let  us  lift  up  our  protest;  let  us  withstand 
the  mighty  enemy  with  the  force  of  our  reasoning.  The  con- 
victions of  great  spirits  are  more  powerful  than  dollars  and 
naval  guns. 

“Brethren  of  America,  let  us  unite.  Let  us  lift  our  arms 
in  defense  of  the  Latin  republic  whose  honor  is  being 
wounded  by  the  greedy  Yankees.” 

The  most  persistent  and  most  active  of  all  the  Yankee 
haters  of  Hispanic  America  is  Manuel  Ugarte  of  Argentina, 
now  living  in  Europe.  He  has  not  only  written  much  on 
his  favorite  theme,  but  has  many  times  toured  America  from 
Punta  Arenas  to  the  Rio  Grande — indeed  he  once  came  as 
far  as  New  York — lecturing  on  the  necessity  of  all  Hispanic 
America  getting  together  to  conserve  their  Latin  inheritance 
and  resist  the  onrush  of  the  North  American.  He  has  re- 
cently issued  a new  edition  of  his  famous  book,  “El  Porvenir 
de  la  America  Latina,”  in  which  he  brings  up  to  date  his 
attack  on  Yankee  imperialism,  showing  how  the  World  War 
has  augmented  its  danger. 

“When  I published  this  book  in  1911,”  says  Senor  Ugarte 
in  his  prologue,  “Spanish  America  had  just  suffered  the  hu- 
miliations of  Nicaragua,  was  writhing  under  the  amputation 
of  Panama  and  had  fresh  in  mind  the  memory  of  the  war 
of  greed  and  felony  which  compelled  Spain  to  strike  her 
colors  in  the  last  of  her  dominions,  thus  presaging  a painful 
supplanting  of  her  spiritual  influence  in  the  New  World. 

“Nevertheless,  there  abounded  in  the  republics  across  the 


334 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


sea  ingenuous  politicians  who,  despite  the  evidence  in  the 
case,  despite  all  logic,  took  me  to  task  for  my  zeal,  spoke  of 
how  disinterested  the  United  States  was,  and  proclaimed  the 
necessity  of  a fraternal  policy,  because,  they  averred,  ‘it  is 
unquestionable  that  only  highly  important  geographical 
and  strategical  necessities  have  caused  that  country  to  com- 
mit certain  acts  which  are  the  limit  of  its  advance  and  the 
beginning  of  a policy  of  conciliation.’ 

“Since  then  we  have  looked  on,  restraining  our  anger, 
while  the  United  States  has  sought  to  invade  the  very  heart 
of  Mexico  through  El  Paso  and  Vera  Cruz;  later  we  wit- 
nessed the  unspeakable  outrage  against  the  little  republic  of 
Santo  Domingo,  governed  at  present  in  the  most  arbitrary 
manner,  against  every  principle  of  right  and  justice,  by  a 
captain  of  the  United  States  Navy.  We  have  followed, 
finally,  the  various  incidents  in  the  manoeuvre  of  intimidation 
and  international  browbeating  whereby,  during  the  war,  the 
attempt  was  made  to  break  down  our  autonomy  and  to  com- 
pel us  to  serve  foreign  interests.  And  to-day,  when  I am 
publishing  another  edition  of  this  book  of  combat,  I must 
unfortunately  bear  witness  to  the  fact  that  the  ingenuous 
politicians  of  1911,  far  from  having  disappeared  from  the 
Spanish- American  stage,  exist  in  greater  numbers  in  1920. 

“Our  nations  of  Spanish  origin,  those  that  are  flourishing 
as  well  as  those  that  are  stagnant  or  exhausted,  show  more 
clearly  every  day  their  helplessness  before  the  wave  that  is 
submerging  them,  surrounding  them,  or  threatening  them. 
This  is  true  of  some  because,  swollen  with  pride  and  boast- 
fulness on  account  of  their  rapid  rise,  they  despise  the  rest, 
forgetting  that  all  of  them,  compared  with  the  great  nations, 
are  held  down  by  their  weakness  to  the  same  orbit  of  rota- 
tion. It  is  true  of  others  because,  governed  with  an  eye  to 
local  rivalries  and  not  to  higher  interests,  they  are  under 
the  thumb  of  little  groups  which  deem  themselves  the  Alpha 
and  Omega  of  life,  which  possess  vanity  in  inverse  propor- 
tion to  their  lights  and  pride  in  inverse  proportion  to  their 
radius  of  action;  it  is  true  of  others  because  all  they  retain 
of  their  autonomy  is  the  harmless  toy  of  a Presidency  and 
Legislature  for  giving  employment  to  the  interminable 
caravans  of  claimants  who  clog  the  anterooms  of  Washing- 


335 


PAN  AMERICANISM  VS.  PAN  LATINISM 

ton,  begging  the  semblance  of  power  in  exchange  for  a shred 
of  their  nation’s  flag. 

“The  passion  to  make  money,  the  voracity  of  the  factions 
which  fight  against  each  other  for  supremacy  and  artificial 
quarrels  about  frontiers  between  sister  nations  which,  though 
they  have  not  colonized  what  they  already  possess,  claim, 
through  sheer  greed,  arid  desert  territories  or  inaccessible 
peaks,  are  all  that  occupy  the  minds  of  the  Latin  Americans. 

“This  favors  the  economic,  intellectual  and  moral  infiltra- 
tion of  the  United  States.  The  United  States  makes  its  ap- 
pearance at  all  the  crossroads  in  the  daily  life  of  Latin  Amer- 
ica, asserting  its  prestige  in  all  sorts  of  ways,  from  the  inevi- 
table statue  of  Washington  to  gifts  of  books  to  libraries,  to 
say  nothing  of  moving  pictures  and  automobiles.  And  the 
echoes  of  the  activity  of  other  Spanish- American  countries 
are  only  heard  now  and  then  and  in  a manner  calculated 
to  engender  loss  of  prestige.” 

He  paints  Mexico’s  experiences  with  her  great  northern 
neighbor  in  these  words : 

“Predestined  by  reason  of  its  geographical  situation  to 
be  the  most  direct  road  for  North  American  exploitation,  yet 
prepared  by  reason  of  its  large  population,  wealth  and  civic 
feeling  to  face  the  formidable  crisis,  it  has  gone  through 
every  phase  of  the  struggle  without  once  losing  heart — 
from  war,  with  its  unhappy  outcome,  from  the  territorial 
amputations  of  1845  and  1848,  to  the  keen  and  subtle  duel 
of  diplomatic  notes  which  has  characterized  recent  years. 

“The  case  of  Mexico  is,  granted  differences  of  distance 
and  intensity,  the  drama  of  all  Spanish  America.  Broken  up 
and  dispersed,  our  republics  are  confronted  with  the  dilemma 
of  submitting  like  Cuba  or  resisting  like  Mexico,  of  accept- 
ing a protectorate  with  all  its  concomitants  of  humiliation  or 
condemning  themselves  to  a heroic  and  desperate  resistance. 
Only  spiritual  union  and  diplomatic  accord  among  all  of 
them  can  engender  that  equilibrium  of  power  which  should 
safeguard  future  development.” 

Finally  Senor  Ugarte,  in  despair,  points  to  what  even  so 


336 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


sane  a writer  as  Garcia  Calderon  has  suggested  as  the  way 
out — an  alliance  with  Japan. 

“What  cannot  be  denied,”  he  says,  “is  that  Japan  will 
always  be  a cause  of  worry  for  North  America.  Let  us  take 
advantage  of  this,  let  us  follow  sympathetically  the  forward 
push  of  the  Japanese  nation,  which,  formerly  threatened, 
has  now,  by  a prodigious  effort,  succeeded  in  freeing  itself 
from  foreign  influences,  in  affirming,  in  a way  precluding 
discussion,  its  autonomy,  and  in  undertaking  upon  the  Asiatic 
Continent  the  task  of  emancipation  which  is  beginning  to 
counteract  the  ambitions  of  Europe.  Nothing  could  be  more 
sympathetic  to  Latin  Americans  than  the  political  person- 
ality of  the  great  nation — centuries  old,  yet  young  at  the 
same  time — which  imparts  to  us  lessons  in  optimism,  show- 
ing us  how  a lethargic  community  can  become  transformed 
into  a power  which  ventures  to  bandy  words  with  the  tyrants 
of  the  universe.” 

Some  thirty  years  ago  a Brazilian  writer,  Eduardo  Prado, 
wrote  a book  called  “The  American  Illusion,”  which  has 
continued  until  to-day  to  be  a classic  in  Latin  America.  This 
book  expresses  the  opinion  that  the  rest  of  America  should 
unite  against  the  United  States  in  order  to  protect  them- 
selves from  the  North  American  nation.  The  following  is 
a summary  of  his  argument  to  show  that  the  United  States 
has  continually  pursued  a hostile  attitude  toward  Latin 
America : 

“North  America  did  not  help  Latin  America  in  its  strug- 
gle for  independence.  William  Burke  and  Canning  were  the 
first  Anglo-Saxons  to  defend  Latin  American  independence; 
in  1819  the  American  government  refused  to  receive  consuls 
appointed  by  Venezuela  and  by  Buenos  Aires.  Not  until 
March  9,  1823,  did  she  recognize  the  independence  of  the 
Spanish  republics;  the  Monroe  Doctrine  was  promulgated 
under  the  influence  of  England;  the  United  States  was  hos- 
tile to  any  country  that  wished  to  abolish  slavery.  Haiti  was 
the  object  of  American  hatred.  Hamilton  of  South  Caro- 
lina declared  in  Congress  that  its  independence  should  not 
be  tolerated  in  any  form,  and  Hayne  demanded  that  any 


PAN  AMERICANISM  VS.  PAN  LATINISM 


337 


country  that  should  recognize  the  independence  of  Haiti 
should  have  its  relations  with  the  United  States  cut  off; 
the  United  States  worked  against  the  independence  of  Cuba, 
fearful  that  this  would  promote  the  abolition  of  slavery;  the 
United  States  was  the  last  to  recognize  the  independence  of 
Brazil;  insolent  messages  were  written  by  President  Jack- 
son  referring  to  Brazil  and  other  South  American  nations ; 
the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  in  1830  insisting  on  the  enlarge- 
ment of  the  naval  forces,  said,  ‘This  is  necessary  in  order 
to  defend  our  permanent  interests  among  those  unstable  and 
incapable  governments;’  in  1830  the  United  States  was  the 
only  government  in  the  world  which  recognized  the  usurping 
and  absolute  King  of  Portugal.  The  United  States  bom- 
barded the  Falkland  Islands  in  1831,  then  the  possession  of 
Argentina,  taking  the  part  of  a few  adventurers  there,  dis- 
embarking troops,  killing  many  colonists  and  destroying 
houses  and  crops.  She  refused  satisfaction  on  the  ground 
that  the  ownership  of  the  islands  was  in  dispute.  She  later 
allowed  England  to  take  these  islands  in  spite  of  the  Monroe 
Doctrine;  the  United  States  has  never  appealed  to  Latin 
American  countries  to  settle  difficulties  of  the  United  States 
by  arbitration  (this  was  written  before  the  United  States- 
Mexico  mediation)  ; the  injustice  of  the  Mexican  War  is 
recognized  by  many  American  historians  (Bancroft  quoted)  ; 
after  the  Civil  War  President  Grant  and  other  leading  North 
Americans  helped  to  exploit  Mexico ; the  filibuster  expedition 
of  Walker  to  Central  America  was  recognized  by  the  United 
States  Government  and  Walker  was  protected  in  every  way. 
President  Buchanan  sent  a telegram  to  a meeting  where 
Walker  was  to  speak  in  New  York,  saying  that  the  heroic 
work  of  Walker  excited  his  admiration  and  solicitude;  in 
1854  Nicaragua  was  bombarded  by  the  United  States  forces 
and  the  city  of  San  Juan  was  burned ; the  United  States  pro- 
tected all  kinds  of  abuses  in  Panama,  and  aided  the  revolu- 
tionists to  free  themselves  from  Colombia ; in  spite  of  the 
Monroe  Doctrine  she  failed  to  help  South  America  when 
Spain  endeavored  to  reconquer  her  colonies  in  i860;  the 
United  States  intervened  in  the  settlement  of  the  Chilean 
Peruvian  War,  helping  Peru  in  order  to  protect  her  financial 
interests;  the  ‘Water  Witch,’  an  American  commercial  boat, 


338 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


disobeyed  the  laws  of  Paraguay  and  was  fired  upon  by  the 
national  authorities.  The  United  States  sent  a fleet  of 
twenty  ships  to  demand  damages.  Argentina  secured  refer- 
ence of  the  case  to  arbitration  which  declared  the  owner  of 
the  ‘Water  Witch’  had  no  claims  whatever.” 

The  Pan  Latinists  have  a number  of  reviews  and  continu- 
ally publish  books  and  pamphlets  and  give  lectures  calculated 
to  advance  their  cause.  No  one  could  object  to  a positive 
program  of  promoting  friendship  between  the  Latin  peoples. 
Indeed  such  a work  should  receive  the  encouragement  of  all 
lovers  of  peace.  But  the  present  program  is  largely  one  of 
abusing  and  misrepresenting  the  United  States.  A sample 
of  this  is  found  in  the  work  of  a magazine  that  has  been 
published  in  Spain  for  twenty-seven  years  and  whose  object 
is  explained  by  its  name,  Union  Ibero- Americana.  In  the 
number  of  October,  1913,  the  following  article  appeared, 
which  is  quoted  as  a sample  of  those  that  are  continually  put 
before  the  Hispanic  American  people. 

“It  is  certainly  true  that  the  so-called  Yankee  Peril  has 
been  manifested  in  a new  way  since  1898,  when  the  ruling 
party  of  the  United  States,  called  Republican,  greatly  ag- 
grieved Spain.  The  attacking  of  Spain,  although  it  was 
most  monstrous  and  unjustifiable,  was  soon  eclipsed  by  the 
happenings  at  Panama  and  Nicaragua.  The  necessity  that 
the  Ibero-Americans  unite,  in  order  to  place  a barrier  before 
the  enormous  ambitions  of  the  Yankees,  has  its  foundation 
in  the  opinions  of  the  politicians  of  the  United  States  them- 
selves. The  least  aggressive  of  the  Yankee  imperialists,  Mr. 
Elihu  Root,  when  he  was  Secretary  of  War  in  the  Cabinet 
of  McKinley,  replied  to  the  delegates  from  Porto  Rico, 
who  visited  him  with  all  humility  to  ask  for  North  American 
citizenship,  the  following : ‘Between  the  Latin  Americans  and 
us  there  does  not  exist,  nor  can  there  exist,  anything  in  com- 
mon ; although  our  desires  are  very  great  they  are  not  suffi- 
cient to  fill  the  chasm  which  separates  us.’ 

“Mr.  Root  speaks  well,  for  there  is  a deep  chasm  that 
separates  morality  from  immorality.  The  same  Mr.  Root, 


PAN  AMERICANISM  VS.  PAN  LATINISM 


339 


the  pacific  imperialist  and  angelic  citizen,  said  in  an  address 
given  in  New  York  on  the  24th  of  August,  1912,  before  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce : ‘It  is  a question  of  time  until  Mex- 
ico, Central  America  and  the  islands,  which  we  do  not  pos- 
sess in  the  Caribbean,  shall  come  under  our  banner.’  Let 
the  English,  the  French,  the  Hollanders,  the  Danes,  who 
own  islands  in  the  Caribbean,  take  notice ! 

“Ex-President  Taft,  the  flower  of  the  imperialists  cap- 
tained by  McKinley  and  Roosevelt,  in  an  article,  called 
‘Reply  to  the  Scientific  and  Political  Critics  of  the  Canal,’ 
inserted  in  a North  American  review  and  reproduced  by  the 
Star  of  Panama,  said  the  following:  ‘The  day  is  not  far 
away  when  three  banners  bearing  the  stars  and  stripes  will 
point  out  three  points  equidistant  in  our  territory,  one  on  the 
North  Pole,  another  the  Panama  Canal,  and  the  third  the 
South  Pole.  All  the  hemisphere  will  be  ours  in  fact,  as  in 
point  of  superiority  of  race  it  is  already  ours  morally.’  All 
that  Mr.  Taft  did  here  was  to  paraphrase  the  well-known 
sayings  of  Senator  Prescott,  written  in  1838,  concerning 
‘The  Origin  of  the  United  States,’  when  he  said : ‘The  star- 
spangled  banner  will  float  over  all  Latin  America  as  far  as 
Tierra  del  Fuego,  the  only  limit  which  we  recognize  as  the 
ambition  of  our  race.’  Prescott  spoke  clearly  and  called 
tilings  by  their  real  names.  Lodge  presented  to  the  Senate  at 
Washington,  in  March  of  1912,  a proposition  which  was 
seconded  by  Senator  Walsh,  that  no  Latin  American  nation 
should  cede  or  lease  the  least  part  of  its  coast  without  the 
permission  of  the  United  States. 

“On  the  14th  of  February  last  the  proprietors  of  the  large 
daily,  The  New  York  American,  directed  the  following  ques- 
tions to  several  Latin  American  presidents : ‘Do  you  not 
believe  that  the  United  States  would  be  justified  in  restoring 
peace  in  Mexico?  This  does  not  mean  that  a permanent 
occupation  is  intended  or  desired.  Please  give  us  your 
opinion.’  Concerning  such  an  original  inquiry  and  danger- 
ous investigation,  the  President  of  Colombia,  Dr.  Carlos  E. 
Restrepo,  replied  in  the  following  virile  and  dignified  terms, 
through  his  secretary : 

“ ‘The  President  of  Colombia  believes  that  every  interven- 
tion in  the  internal  affairs  of  another  nation  is  a violation  of 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


840 

the  sovereignty  of  the  latter,  and  therefore,  a violation  of 
the  rights  of  and  an  attack  on  international  justice,  the  prac- 
tice of  which  is  the  greatest  desire  of  the  Latin  American 
nations.’  The  Presidents  of  Ecuador,  Chile,  Brazil  and 
other  nations  replied  in  a similar  way.  They  unanimously 
condemned  the  threatened  intervention  of  the  Yankees  in 
Mexico. 

“The  international  attitude  of  the  Yankees  has  never 
been  a model  for  us,  for  it  is  always  full  of  shadows  and 
ugly  places,  and  a comparison  of  it  with  that  of  the  Latin 
American  republics  favors  these  latter  in  a number  of  points. 
Some  eight  years  ago  one  of  the  most  profound  English 
sociologists,  a former  professor  of  history  in  the  University 
College,  London,  speaking  of  the  dangers  of  the  policy  of 
the  United  States  towards  Latin  America,  said : ‘The  United 
States  is  the  most  disordered  and  most  lawless  country  in 
the  world.  Roosevelt  is  not  able  to  control  the  mobs  that 
burn  alive  the  negroes.  No  one  is  punished  for  these  atroci- 
ties. One  of  the  reasons  why  orderly  North  Americans  con- 
gregate in  Canada  is  in  order  to  be  in  a country  where  law 
and  order  prevail.’  ” 

The  alleged  quotations  from  Mr.  Root  and  Mr.  Taft  and 
other  statesmen,  in  this  article,  are  so  evidently  false  that 
we  should  suppose  that  publications  of  them  would  do  little 
harm.  But  what  are  the  actual  results  of  the  publication  of 
such  statements  in  Latin  America?  A very  serious  review, 
the  Revista  de  Paraguay,  publishes  this  whole  editorial 
and  adds : 

“Without  accepting  unconditionally  all  of  the  deductions 
which  this  distinguished  author  wishes  to  draw  from  his 
work,  we  must  recognize  the  undeniable  fact  that  this  is 
certainly  not  all  ‘pure  literature,’  and  here  are  revealed  pro- 
found facts,  which  are  being  discussed  here  and  there  in  all 
parts  of  Ibero-America  in  these  later  times.  It  has  only  been 
a few  weeks  since  the  Argentine  champion  of  these  same 
ideas,  the  brilliant  writer,  Manuel  Ugarte,  brought  together 
in  our  theater  the  young  people  and  the  intellectual  circles 
before  whom  he  expounded,  amidst  enthusiastic  applause,  the 


PAN  AMERICANISM  VS.  PAN  LATINISM 


341 


good  news  of  the  rapidly  developing  crusade  against  Yankee 
imperialism.” 


ANTI-AMERICAN  PROPAGANDA 

The  last  quotation  from  this  article,  referring  to  what  the 
English  friend  said,  brings  up  the  way  that  foreigners  in 
Latin  America  often  foster  and  use  anti-American  spirit  for 
their  own  benefit.  Some  little  while  ago,  just  before  the 
Boston  Chamber  of  Commerce  delegation  reached  Buenos 
Aires,  an  English  newspaper  stated  that  in  all  probability 
the  ultimate  purpose  of  the  tour  was  to  open  the  way  for 
eventual  annexation  to  the  United  States.  “Give  us  your 
business,”  the  other  foreigners  in  Latin  America  say,  “con- 
cessions for  your  railroads,  your  mines,  etc.,  for  we  cannot 
secure  your  territory ; but  the  United  States  will  use  commer- 
cial advantages  to  take  your  territory  itself.” 

The  largest  part  of  this  kind  of  propaganda  has,  of  course, 
been  carried  on  by  the  Germans.  They  have  not  stopped  at 
any  means  to  turn  the  hatred  of  Latin  America  toward  the 
United  States  to  their  own  advantage.  Where  this  hatred 
has  not  existed  they  have  hired  people  to  develop  it.  Just 
after  the  United  States  and  Brazil  entered  the  World  War, 
there  appeared  a book  in  Argentina,  which  had  a cover 
which  told  the  whole  story  of  the  book.  On  this  cover  the 
American  eagle  was  represented  as  holding  the  Brazilian 
flag  in  his  claws  and  swooping  down  upon  Argentina.  The 
book  was  entitled  “Our  Next  War.”  It  argued  that  the 
United  States  had  now  been  able  to  secure  Brazil’s  coopera- 
tion against  Argentina  and  that  the  whole  desire  was  to 
crush  Argentina,  which  would  very  soon  find  itself  attacked 
by  these  two  northern  countries.  The  book  created  such  a 
sensation  that  the  Argentine  Government  found  it  necessary 
to  investigate  concerning  responsibility  for  its  publication. 
It  found  that  a Spaniard  had  written  it  and  the  money  for 
its  publication  had  been  furnished  by  the  German  Govern- 
ment. Argentina  made  an  official  explanation  and  apology 
to  Brazil  for  the  appearance  of  the  book. 

Much  concerning  the  source  of  such  anti-American  propa- 
ganda has  been  shown  by  the  study  of  propaganda  methods 


34-2 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


as  a result  of  the  World  War.  Klaus  Wagner,  a German 
writer,  spoke  as  follows  in  1906: 

“Slowly,  not  hastily,  we  people  of  Germanic  blood  must 
proceed  in  the  settlement  of  the  lands  which  are  to  be  ours 
in  the  future.  * * * By  right  of  war  (conquest  by  arms)  the 
non-Germanic  (people)  of  America  and  Great  Australia 
must  be  settled  in  Africa.  * * * By  right  of  war  we  can  send 
back  the  useless  South  American  Romance  peoples,  and  the 
half-breeds  to  North  America.  * * * The  lands  will  be  set- 
tled upon  by  people  of  Germanic  blood,  the  non-Germanic 
inhabitants  driven  into  reservations,  or  at  best  to  Africa 
(Algiers,  Egypt,  Morocco,  Tunis).” 

The  French  writer,  Maurice  de  Waleffe,  begins  his  book, 
“The  Fair  Land  of  Central  America,”  with  the  following: 

“The  United  States  have  made  up  their  minds  to  conquer 
South  America.  Washington  aspires  to  become  the  capital 
of  an  enormous  empire  composing,  with  the  exception  of 
Canada,  the  whole  new  world.  Eighty  million  Yankees  want 
to  annex  not  only  70  million  Spanish  Americans  but 
also  such  mines,  forests  and  agricultural  riches  as  can  be 
found  nowhere  else  on  the  globe.”  Such  authorities  are 
often  responsible  for  articles  that  appear  in  the  magazines 
and  daily  papers,  like  one  in  a Lima  paper  with  the  following 
headline:  “North  American  Excesses;  the  Terrible  Lynch- 
ings;  and  They  Talk  of  the  Putamayo.” 

In  the  preface  of  a volume  published  in  1914,  entitled 
“Labor  Hondurena  por  la  Autonomia  de  Centro-America,” 
the  alleged  publisher  of  which  was  “La  Liga  de  la  Defensa 
Nacional  Centro- Americana,”  is  the  following:  “Among 
other  documents  of  real  importance  this  publication  includes 
a large  number  of  records  of  protests  raised  by  almost  all 
the  towns  of  Honduras  against  Yankee  imperialism  in  Cen- 
tral America.  The  purport  of  the  volume  is  naively  revealed, 
when  (page  330)  it  is  stated  that: 

“The  governments  of  Central  America  should  subsidize 
transatlantic  steamship  lines  to  bring  to  Central  America 


PAN  AMERICANISM  VS.  PAN  LATINISM 


343 


from  old  Europe  its  manufactured  products,  that  are  more 
polished,  finer  and  of  better  quality  than  the  American  goods 
and  are,  moreover,  lower  in  price;  because  artisans  in  the 
United  States  lack  the  classic  style,  and  their  wages  are  high, 
consequently  the  prices  of  their  products  also  are  high.” 

Dr.  J.  A.  Arias,  of  Honduras,  also  points  out  the  results 
of  sensational  news  stories : 

“Our  own  citizens  of  Latin  America  have  aided  the 
enemy  in  this  work  of  fomenting  prejudice  against  the 
United  States.  One  news  service  in  the  United  States 
cabled  daily  to  the  Hispanic  American  newspapers  items 
that  were  mainly  about  crimes  committed,  divorces  and 
scandals  and  follies  of  society.  Cultivators  of  hostility  to- 
ward the  people  of  the  ‘Octopus  of  the  North’  cited  this  mat- 
ter as  proof  that  those  people  were  criminals,  salacious  and 
ungodly.  Protests  brought  from  editors  the  answer : ‘Why 
should  we  imagine  that  this  matter  is  unfair?  It  is  chosen 
by  American  editors  for  a press  association.  Would  they 
send  it  if  it  were  not  true?’  ” 

North  Americans  are  often  their  own  worst  enemies  in 
producing  prejudice.  Publishers  in  the  United  States  have 
helped  the  anti-American  propaganda  to  the  injury  of  those 
manufacturers,  carriers,  and  merchants  whose  money  for 
advertising  helped  to  pay  contributors,  editors  and  printers 
of  jests,  quips,  and  stories,  articles  on  international  afifairs, 
books  of  travel  and  of  description,  and  novels  intended  to 
amuse,  but  which  do  little  more  than  incense  the  people  of  the 
South. 

Another  class  of  propaganda  against  all  foreigners,  but 
used  particularly  against  North  Americans,  is  that  which 
the  well-known  Mexican  writer,  Francisco  Bulnes,  calls 
“Jewish  hatred,”  that  is  hatred  of  heretics.  As  Bulnes  says : 

“The  clergy  preaches  this  persecution,  this  hatred,  this  faith 
in  the  greatness  of  Mexico,  not  attained  by  developing  our 
riches,  but  by  expelling  heretics.  As  the  Bishop  of  Puebla 
said  in  a sermon:  ‘If  all  heretical  Mexicans  and  foreigners 


344  PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 

would  leave  this  chosen  nation  of  His  Divine  Majesty  we 
would  not  be  saddened  again  by  the  pests  and  famines  which 
God  has  visited  upon  us.’  ” 

The  United  States  is  often  held  up  to  the  faithful  by  the 
Catholic  clergy  as  the  greatest  enemy  of  Latin  America  be- 
cause it  is  the  greatest  Protestant  nation.  Protestant  mis- 
sionaries from  the  United  States  are  reported  as  secret 
emissaries  of  their  government,  working  for  the  subjugation 
of  the  fatherland.  Since  North  America  is  heretical  it  has 
no  soul,  no  culture,  no  morals,  nothing  worthy  of  imitation 
but  everything  worthy  of  fleeing — so  the  faithful  are  told 
and  retold,  with  the  lesson  emphasized  with  exaggerated 
stories  of  Yankee  imperialism.  All  who  are  familiar  with 
Latin  American  life  know  that  no  treatment  of  anti-Ameri- 
can propaganda  could  justly  omit  the  very  strong  influence 
that  the  clergy — often  foreigners  themselves — have  exer- 
cised for  generations  against  North  Americans. 

Since  American  shipping  has  taken  a prominent  place  in 
the  latter  days  in  Latin  America,  foreign  agents  have  often 
been  able  to  capture  the  agency  of  these  ships  and  work 
against  the  United  States  from  the  inside.  They  may  be 
careless  about  expenditures,  they  may  play  into  the  hands 
of  their  fellow  countrymen  to  overcharge  for  supplies,  fuel 
and  repairs ; some  of  these  agents  actually  report  that  the 
North  American  boats  are  not  seaworthy,  that  the  United 
States  cannot  possibly  become  a maritime  power,  that  this 
Government  has  no  right  to  engage  in  the  shipping  business 
and  deprive  other  foreigners  of  their  legitimate  income, 
which  has  been  their  living  for  all  these  years.  American 
ships  need  American  agents  and  crews,  who  should  be 
selected  with  the  greatest  care  both  for  their  professional 
ability  and  for  their  representative  American  character. 
Carelessness,  - wastefulness,  dishonesty,  immorality,  are 
quickly  seized  upon  by  the  anti-American  propagandist. 
The  conduct  of  sailors  ashore  has  always  been  a problem. 
It  should  have  careful  study  and  such  agencies  as  the  Young 
Men’s  Christian  Association,  established  in  foreign  ports, 
should  be  encouraged  to  carry  out  large  plans  for  our  sea- 
men. A Chilean  once  told  the  writer  that  he  supposed 


PAN  AMERICANISM  VS.  PAN  LATINISM 


345 


Americans  generally  ate  with  their  feet  on  the  table,  since  all 
those  he  had  ever  seen  in  his  little  port  town  were  sailors 
who  followed  that  custom  in  restaurants.  Probably  nothing 
has  done  so  much  to  bring  Uruguay  to  its  staunch  friendship 
for  the  United  States  as  the  fine  conduct  of  our  sailors  who 
visited  that  country  with  the  fleet  in  1917.  Most  of  them 
were  fresh  recruits  from  our  colleges  and  business  organiza- 
tions of  the  middle  west.  As  one  citizen  expressed  it : "When 
the  United  States  sailors  used  to  come  here,  the  policemen 
would  take  to  the  trees.  But  these  fellows  are  real  mis- 
sionaries of  North  American  culture.  I haven’t  seen  one 
of  them  drunk  on  the  street.  Our  mothers  have  suspended 
the  rules,  and  allow  their  daughters  to  promenade  or  dance 
with  any  man  who  wears  a United  States  uniform.” 

A sample  of  a common  commercial  propaganda,  legitimate 
withal,  now  carried  on  by  France  is  shown  in  an  article  in 
the  Paris  Review , by  D.  Lafond,  who  speaks  as  follows  con- 
cerning Pan  Latinism: 

“Just  as  soon  as  the  discussions  concerning  peace  and  the 
establishment  of  order  have  been  terminated,  the  conquest  of 
the  rich  and  unexplored  markets  of  Latin  America  will  be 
the  object  of  an  intense  struggle,  in  which  the  United  States 
and  the  central  European  powers  will  take  part.  France  is 
disposed  to  enter  this  contest,  bearing  the  banner  of  Pan 
Latinism,  and  in  this  struggle  will  compete  not  only  against 
Germany  but  also  against  her  allies,  England  and  the  United 
States.  When  we  speak  of  these  republics  we  do  not  use  the 
term  in  an  academic  sense  but  as  an  expression  of  a strong 
racial  sentiment  which  more  and  more  day  by  day  is  empha- 
sized. Brazil,  Argentina  and  Uruguay  are  dominated  by 
Anglo-French  capital  and  by  French  ideas.  The  racial  idea 
in  the  sentiment  of  common  culture  and  conditions  is  the 
corner  stone  of  modern  politics.  Pan  Slavism,  Pan  German- 
ism, Pan  Americanism,  why  not  add  to  this  list  Pan  Latin- 
ism ? Europe  is  overcrowded.  In  a short  time  the  same  will 
happen  to  the  United  States.  There  is  left  only  South  Amer- 
ica whose  population  was  15,000,000  at  the  beginning  of  the 
nineteenth  century  and  has  been  multiplied  by  six.  The 
European  War  has  created  a new  situation.  France,  Ger- 


346 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


many  and  England  are  eliminated  and  the  United  States  has 
not  prepared  itself  to  occupy  the  vacant  place.  We  must 
therefore  prepare  to  fight  for  the  markets  of  South  America. 
Latin  American  commerce  can  be  secured  for  France  be- 
cause the  Latin  Americans  have  a point  of  contact  with  the 
French  which  they  have  with  no  other  people.  Latin  Ameri- 
cans have  a center  of  nerves  which  are  moved  principally  by 
sentiment.  A persuasive  and  eloquent  argument  is  what  is 
needed  to  bind  them  to  us.” 

In  similar  vein  is  a long  article  by  Georges  Lefor,  in  a 
recent  issue  of  Revue  Minerva , entitled  “Capturing  Latin 
American  Markets.”  He  says  : 

“Latinity  is  not  simply  a vague  literary  expression.  It  is 
a practical  thing  as  regards  many  economic  and  political 
matters.  The  Latin  republics  of  America  feel  the  affinity  of 
race  and  profess  sympathy  for  the  Latins  of  Europe.  Ar- 
gentina, Brazil  and  Uruguay,  where  there  is  so  much  Anglo- 
French  capital  invested,  influenced  by  French  ideas  and 
Italian  workmen,  will  not  delay  long  in  drawing  near  to  those 
European  nations  which  populated,  civilized  and  enriched 
Latin  America,  that  is  France,  England,  Italy  and  Spain,  and 
exclude  others  from  her  market,  for  Latin  superiority  in 
South  America  is  absolute  from  every  viewpoint.” 

Spain  is  pushing  even  harder  these  claims  of  kinship  to 
aid  commercial  and  cultural  relations.  An  example  of  Span- 
ish enthusiasm  along  this  line  is  the  organization  of  the 
order  of  the  “Knights  of  Hispanic  America.”  The  object 
of  the  order  is  to  foment  friendship  between  Spanish-speak- 
ing countries  by  means  of  intellectual  exchange,  public  lec- 
tures, founding  of  Pan  Hispanic  libraries,  the  sending  of 
students  to  Spain,  the  publication  of  school  texts  from  which 
will  be  eliminated  those  concepts  which  engender  hatred  of 
Spain,  and  finally  the  organization  through  chambers  of 
commerce,  of  expositions  where  exhibits  of  Spanish  and 
Spanish-American  products  will  be  maintained,  in  order  to 
develop  commercial  interchange. 

The  most  far-reaching  of  these  efforts  is  the  establishment 


PAN  AMERICANISM  VS.  PAN  LATINISM 


347 


of  “El  Dia  de  la  Raza”  (The  Day  of  the  Race)  on  the  anni- 
versary of  Columbus’  discovery  of  America,  when  Spanish- 
speaking people  both  in  Europe  and  in  America  are  asked 
to  celebrate  the  glories  of  Spanish  history  and  letters  and 
pledge  themselves  to  maintain  these  noble  traditions.  The 
day  has  rapidly  grown  in  popularity  and  is  now  declared  a 
legal  holiday  in  most  Latin  American  countries. 

Those  who  are  particularly  interested  in  relations  between 
Spain  and  her  former  colonies  are  likely  to  belittle  the  appeal 
to  Pan  Latinism  and  claim  that  the  movement  should  be 
confined  to  Pan  Hispanisrr.  They  also  object  to  the  term 
Latin  America,  claiming  that  it  should  be  rather  Hispanic  or 
Ibero-America,  because  the  people  of  Southern  America  did 
not  come  from  all  Latin  countries,  but  only  from  Spain  and 
Portugal.  If  objection  is  made  that  the  term  Hispanic 
America  leaves  out  Brazil,  they  reply  that  it  does  not,  since 
Hispania  is  the  ancient  name  for  all  the  Iberian  Peninsula. 
But  the  writer  has  not  found  that  the  Brazilians  admit  that 
the  term  Hispanic  America  includes  them.  For  that  reason 
and  also  because  southern  America  is  certainly  closely  akin 
to  France  in  culture,  if  not  in  blood,  and  is  constantly  being 
drawn  closer  to  Italy  through  immigration,  the  term  Pan 
Latinism  has  been  employed  rather  than  that  of  Pan  His- 
panicism,  although  the  latter  is  insisted  upon  by  certain 
societies  and  publications  interested  in  this  field. 

THE  SCHOOL  OF  PAN  AMERICANISTS 

North  Americans  will  be  deeply  gratified  at  the  appearance 
of  a school  of  authors  and  statesmen  who  frankly  recognize 
the  mistakes  in  the  judgments  concerning  the  United  States 
and  earnestly  plead  for  a change  of  attitude  on  the  part  of 
their  fellow  countrymen.  President  Brum  of  Uruguay  has 
expressed  one  of  the  reasons  for  this  new  attitude,  when, 
speaking  at  a banquet  in  honor  of  Secretary  Colby  at  the 
government  palace  in  Montevideo,  he  recalled  his  visit  to  the 
United  States  in  1918,  where  he  saw  the  nation’s  war  effort 
and  could  feel  “that  all  that  powerful  energy  was  not  set  in 
motion  for  the  sake  of  avenging  a direct  or  personal  offense, 
nor  to  obtain  material  advantages,  nor  to  extend  farther  the 


348 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


boundaries  of  the  homeland,  but  for  humanity  and  to  estab- 
lish amongst  nations  the  supremacy  of  justice  for  the  sake 
of,  as  President  Wilson  would  say,  ‘our  sons  and  the  sons 
of  all  men  in  the  world,  that  they  may  live  free  and  peace- 
fully.’ ” 

“And  it  is  this,”  continued  the  President,  “which  has 
raised  your  country  to  the  highest  degree ; which  has  made 
it  great,  because  of  the  strength  of  your  idealism;  which  has 
made  it  sacred  as  the  bulwark  of  the  noblest  international 
principles;  which  has  bound  it  more  to  its  brothers  of  Amer- 
ica, who,  like  it,  have  grown  and  who  breathe  the  same 
impulse  of  liberty  and  who  consider  its  glory  as  their  own 
glory,  as  a reflex  of  the  great  Columbian  country.” 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  of  these  new  advocates  of 
friendship  with  the  north  is  Jesus  Semprum  of  Venezuela, 
who  has  recently  spent  some  time  in  the  United  States  and 
come  to  know  their  better  side.  Writing  in  a recent  issue 
of  Cultura  V enezolana,  he  makes  a study  of  the  reasons  for 
the  feeling  of  dislike  and  contempt  felt  for  the  United  States, 
due  at  first  to  dissimilarity  and  misunderstanding  but  prin- 
cipally to  the  Spanish-American  War.  Here  are  a few  ex- 
tracts from  his  remarkable  article : 

“We  who  opened  our  eyes  to  intellectual  life  with  the  first 
years  of  this  century  began  to  breathe  an  atmosphere  by 
no  means  friendly  to  the  ‘Yankees.’  The  inevitable  defeat  of 
Spain  awakened  a profound  moral  echo  among  our  peoples. 
Envenomed  by  a multitude  of  purely  rhetorical  phrases  and 
falsehoods,  we  saw  in  the  triumph  of  ‘Yankeeland’ — as  we 
wrote,  with  a certain  innocent  bitterness  to  which  we  strove 
to  communicate  a deeply  sarcastic  air — the  victory  of  the 
strong  over  the  weak,  of  the  lusty  barbarism  over  the  deli- 
cate and  exquisite  being.  Thick  clouds  obscured  our  vision 
and  prevented  our  penetrating  the  magnicent  significance  in- 
volved in  the  Spanish-American  war  and  the  liberation  of 
Cuba,  Puerto  Rico  and  the  Philippines.  Our  somewhat  ex- 
travagant love  for  good  Spain  prevented  us  from  informing 
ourselves  regarding  events  as  they  were.  We  were  be- 
witched by  the  old  legend  of  chivalry,  and  we  beheld  Spain 


PAN  AMERICANISM  VS.  PAN  LATINISM 


349 


symbolized  in  the  gaunt  silhouette  of  Don  Quijote,  who, 
lance  in  socket,  appeared  in  the  nineteenth  century  to  hurl 
himself  upon  a formidable  ruffian,  an  enormous  brigand,  the 
forcer  of  damsels.  Properly  speaking,  this  also  was  not  a 
spontaneous  vision  of  our  minds.  We  conceived  it  by  read- 
ing the  masters  of  our  generation,  the  great  South  American 
writers  who  preached  to  us  contempt  for,  and  hatred  of,  the 
‘Yankees,’  not  only  as  a political  concept  but  also  as  an 
esthetic  canon.  The  North  Americans  were  rude  and  obtuse 
Calibans,  swollen  with  brutal  appetites,  the  enemies  of  all 
idealisms,  furiously  enamored  of  the  dollar,  insatiable  gulpers 
of  whiskey  and  sausages — swift,  overwhelming,  fierce, 
clownish.  Thanks  to  their  strength,  they  had  set  their  feet 
upon  Spain : chivalrous,  romantic,  sweet,  weak  Spain.  Even 
those  wasters  who  had  not  felt  the  greatest  sympathy  for 
Spain,  those  who  owed  all  their  culture  to  France,  Germany, 
England,  and  even  the  United  States  herself,  spoke  to  us 
about  the  North  as  a country  of  gigantic  and  horrible  sons, 
worshipers  of  the  golden  calf,  rich,  yes,  but  stupid  and 
rude.” 

“Such  a fabrication  was,  at  all  events,  easily  answerable, 
not  to  say  clearly  absurd;  but  we  had  our  heads  filled  with 
bad  dreams,  like  good  Alonso  Quijano,  and  we  took  for 
relentless  robbers  what  were  innocent  and  useful  windmills. 

“Therefore  is  the  present  moment  crystalline,  because  the 
storm  of  war,  with  its  frightful  profusion  of  thunderbolts, 
has  cleared  the  moral  and  intellectual  atmosphere  of  our 
times  of  those  dread  clouds  that  closed  to  our  eyes  the  his- 
torical perspectives,  which  prevented  us  from  contemplating 
what  was  in  reality  occurring  beyond  the  Caribbean,  in  the 
land  of  the  north. 

“Caliban  has  disappeared.  The  furious  barbarian  van- 
ished with  the  clouds  of  hallucination  that  befuddled  our 
brains,  and  in  its  stead  appears  Ariel,  that  same  aerial  genius 
— clear,  harmonious — who  charmed  the  dreams  of  our  youth 
with  the  music  of  his  flute.  We  comprehend  now  that  the 
men  of  yesterday  were  mistaken ; and  that,  guided  by  I know 
not  what  hidden  prophetic  force — by  inexplicable  vanity, 
perhaps — we  attributed  to  ourselves — we  South  Americans 
— the  role  of  marvelous  Ariels ; and  we  assigned  to  our  neigh- 


350 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


bors  of  the  north  the  lamentable  function  of  coarse  Calibans. 
For  the  sentimental  bitterness  of  the  Spanish  defeat  created 
in  us  an  enduring  hostility  toward  the  north.  Kindly  dis- 
posed toward  the  weak  victim  by  a generous  sentiment, 
which,  in  reality,  honors  Spanish  America,  we  were  not 
satisfied  to  proclaim  our  sympathy  for  Spain,  but  the  litera- 
ture of  the  south  must  consider  itself  under  obligations  to 
manifest  dislike  and  even  aversion  for  the  republic  of  the 
north. 

“Transcendental  Hispanicism  is  destined  to  acquire  living 
and  fruitful  force  upon  the  day  when  it  is  set  aright  in  the 
path  of  mutual  comprehension  and  tolerance,  which  seems 
still  to  be  somewhat  remote.  Therefore  it  is  necessary  that 
we  cease  to  ask  of  Spain  the  examples  she  possessed  one  day, 
and  which  she  to-day  longs  to  renew  with  the  intense  aspira- 
tion of  her  best  wills  and  intellects.  Simultaneously  it  is 
necessary  that  Spain  shall  not  demand  of  Americans  those 
profound  and  serene  virtues  tha'!  can  only  spring  up  in  an 
atmosphere  enriched  by  ages  of  civilization.  Loving  Spain, 
we  can,  and  we  ought  to,  draw  near  to  different  kinds  of 
culture,  in  order  to  improve  and  enrich  our  minds,  because 
by  this  means  shall  we  contribute  to  strengthening  ourselves 
for  future  undertakings.  It  is  therefore  important  to  rid 
ourselves  of  the  prejudices  which  our  mistaken  Hispanicism 
created  and  fostered  for  many  years,  since  in  Spain  herself 
many  good  Spaniards  applaud  without  stint  what  is  admir- 
able and  praiseworthy  in  the  United  States.  It  is  the  hour 
for  ridding  ourselves  of  the  tone  of  contempt  or  sarcasm 
that  has  prevailed  for  several  years  in  southern  literature 
whenever  we  referred  to  the  north. 

“What  separates  us  from  the  Yankees,  to  be  brief,  is 
nothing  but  our  indolence,  which  is  incapable  of  engaging  in 
a strong  effort  to  comprehend  the  spirit  of  that  wise,  prudent 
and  generous  people  which  has  already  solved  the  essential 
problems  of  the  future,  or  is  on  the  eve  of  solving  them, 
with  enviable  success.  Our  rich  men  could  learn  from  the 
multi-millionaires  not  to  consider  themselves  in  reality  as 
other  than  the  transitory  depositaries  of  the  fortunes  their 
efforts  or  destiny  placed  in  their  hands,  as  simple  adminis- 
trators of  the  possessions  that  Providence  stored  in  their 


PAN  AMERICANISM  VS.  PAN  LATINISM 


351 


vaults,  and  which  they  ought  to  turn  to  account  for  the 
benefit  of  the  commonwealth.  Our  believers  might  well  be 
informed  of  how  there  the  religious  conception,  the  creed, 
is  considered  as  something  sacred,  which  does  not  hinder 
men  from  fraternizing,  but  rather  compels  them  to  fra- 
ternize, with  the  sectaries  of  a different  religion,  the  case 
having  occurred  of  Christian  pastors  and  even  Jewish  rabbis 
who  pronounced,  with  warm  accents  of  admiration,  panegy- 
rics upon  a Catholic  prelate.  Our  fierce  don  Juans  might 
well  learn  there  to  respect  woman ; and  indifferent  fathers, 
veneration  for  his  majesty,  the  child.” 

A second  remarkable  utterance  in  favor  of  closer  relations 
with  the  United  States,  which  also  attacks  strongly  the  Pan 
Latin  school  of  orators  that  have  had  the  ear  of  Latin  Amer- 
ica in  the  past,  is  contained  in  a series  of  articles  by  Senor 
Jose  Barcas  in  Causimodo , and  reproduced  in  English  in 
Inter  America.  Senor  Barcas  is  a young  Argentine  who  has 
lived  in  the  United  States  and  several  other  American  coun- 
tries and  is  now  giving  himself  to  building  up  an  all-Ameri- 
can friendship,  with  residence  at  Panama,  with  the  same 
devotion  that  Sr.  Manuel  Ugarte  has  been  dedicating  him- 
self to  tearing  it  down.  Here  are  some  of  his  virile  state- 
ments, which  have  been  copied  by  periodicals  all  over 
America : 

“To  uphold  and  to  propagate  the  idea  of  the  superiority  of 
the  Latin-American  over  the  Anglo-American  is  to  foster 
between  South  Americans  and  the  North  Americans  the 
same  kind  of  grotesque  and  silly  vanity  as  that  which  Gobi- 
neau  would  foster  between  the  men  of  long  cranium  and  the 
men  of  round  cranium.  Rodo  * * * exaggerated,  like  every 
man  of  letters,  the  gifts  of  the  Greco-Latin  race.  His  love 
for  ancient  Greece,  which  he  calls  with  unequaled  grace 
‘the  smile  of  history,’  and  his  temperament  of  a static  intel- 
lectual, without  falling  into  the  Olympianism  of  our  insigni- 
ficant megalomaniacs,  prevented  him  from  comprehending 
that  our  century  is  infinitely  greater  than  that  of  Pericles 
and  the  Renaissance  put  together.  In  ‘Ariel’  he  declaims 
against  the  mercantilistic  influences  of  the  Saxon  of  the 


352 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


North.  We — as  is  natural — are  Ariel,  the  verbum  of  the 
idealists ; they  are  Caliban,  the  dark  genius  of  the  instincts. 
We,  the  beautiful  sons  of  Apollo,  are  the  ‘idealists’;  they, 
the  ugly  sons  of  Mercury,  the  ‘Philistines.’  This  is  the 
truth  if  at  all,  only  in  literature.  In  the  world  of  facts  it  is 
different:  we  are  the  Philistines,  and  the  true  idealists  are 
the  Americans  of  the  North. 

“The  pride  of  chivalrous  gentlemen  and  polished  conver- 
sationalists does  not  sit  well  upon  us  when  we  need  to  have 
the  children  of  Caliban  come  to  wash  our  faces,  sanify  our 
habitations  and  make  us  clean  in  order  that  we  may  have 
better  health.  What  else  than  this  signifies  the  attitude  of 
the  Rockefeller  Institute,  voting  ioo  million  dollars  to 
send  technical  expeditions  commissioned  to  drain  the  ma- 
larial regions  of  South  America?  Rodo  forgot,  among 
other  things,  that  our  race  has  not  yet  produced  an  Emerson, 
a Poe,  a Walt  Whitman,  an  Edison,  a Lincoln.  He  forgot 
that  in  that  country  of  traders  the  only  privileged  beings  are 
women  and  children,  which  does  not  happen  with  our  ro- 
mantic race  of  gentlemen  and  troubadours. 

“If  we  had  ideals,  we  should  have  a homogeneous  civi- 
lization typically  South  American  as  the  United  States  has 
a civilization  typically  Yankee.  We  should  have  a history, 
because  we  should  be  occupied  in  ‘making’  history  and  not  in 
‘commenting  upon  it,’  boasting  vainly  of  what  our  grand- 
fathers and  our  great-grandfathers  did.  If  we  had  an 
idealistic  sense  of  life  we  should  not  drive  our  claws  and 
teeth  into  the  neck  of  the  Messiahs  who  bring  us  a new 
creed;  we  should  not  combat,  with  persecution,  prison  and 
exile,  the  one  who  professes,  not  the  ideas  of  yesterday  or 
of  the  day  before  yesterday,  but  the  ideas  of  to-day,  to-mor- 
row and  the  day  after  to-morrow.  Let  us  not  confound,  in 
Heaven’s  name,  Philistines  disguised  as  romantics  with  true 
idealists.” 

Heilo  Lobo  of  Brazil,  another  splendid  example  of  the 
young  men  who  have  examined  their  country  with  critical 
affection  and  have  their  eyes  toward  the  future,  has  pointed 
out  in  a recent  study,  “Cousas  Diplomaticas”  (Affairs  Diplo- 
matic) that  the  relationships  between  Brazil  and  the  United 


PAN  AMERICANISM  VS.  PAN  LATINISM 


353 


States  have  always  been  most  cordial  and  his  country  has 
never  had  the  least  reason  to  feel  slighted  by  the  Northern 
Republic.  He  shows  conclusively  the  unfairness  of  the  ar- 
guments of  Eduardo  Prado. 

Raffiel  Urtecho  of  Nicaragua  has  pointed  out  a most  im- 
portant matter  when  he  insists  that  there  is  no  real  cause 
for  rivalry  or  ill-feeling  between  the  two  schools  of  thought 
under  discussion.  He  says : 

“It  has  been  said  by  some  that  Pan  Americanism  consists 
in  that  sentiment  of  solidarity  which  ought  to  exist  solely 
between  nations  of  the  same  race,  and  which  would  be  ex- 
pressed by  the  term  Pan  Hispanism ; but  inasmuch  as  the 
latter  is  a sentiment,  a memory,  a devotion  to  Spain  and  to 
everything  of  Spanish  origin,  rather  than  anything  else,  it 
does  not  argue  the  existence  of  any  incompatibility  between 
the  two  ideas.  On  the  contrary,  Pan  Hispanism,  as  Dr. 
Porras  has  said,  will  serve  as  a counterpoise  to  prevent  the 
absorption  and  annihilation  of  the  absorbent  elements  them- 
selves. The  two  doctrines  can  therefore  be  perfectly  co- 
existent. Nothing  hinders  the  Hispano-American  countries 
from  preserving  throughout  the  vicissitudes  of  time  the 
distinctive  characteristics  that  are  peculiar  to  them : their 
own  customs,  their  language,  their  religion,  all  that  con- 
stitutes their  particular  type  of  civilization. 

“Devotion  then  to  these  ideals  in  no  way  weakens  the 
efficacy  of  the  Pan  American  doctrine,  for  this  devotion  is  a 
sublime  abstraction,  like  love  for  one’s  country.  It  does  not 
imply  any  plan,  any  alliance  or  political  league,  which  is  the 
basic  principle  of  Pan  Americanism. 

“This  doctrine  is  a defensive  bulwark  for  the  weak  nations 
of  Spanish  America.  If  ever,  by  misfortune,  in  the  hazards 
of  fate,  this  bulwark  should  fall  tottering  to  the  earth,  these 
countries  would  become  the  spoils  of  the  European  or  Asiatic 
nations. 

“Our  own  existence  is  bound  up  intimately  with  that  of 
the  great  North  American  nation.  We  need  from  her  the 
protection  that  her  power  and  authority  mean  to  America ; 
she  needs  from  us  that  we  cooperate  in  the  common  defence 
with  loyalty  and  good  will.  We  constitute  vulnerable  points 


354 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


upon  the  continent  whereby  the  North  American  nation  can 
be  attacked  in  her  vital  interests.  All  that  makes  for  weak- 
ness or  for  strength  in  us  does  the  same  for  her ; and  there- 
fore the  United  States  is  anxious  that  we  bid  farewell  to 
our  disorderly  political  life,  to  the  proverbial  administrative 
jumble  in  which  we  have  lived,  and  that  we  make  of  our- 
selves entities  worthy  of  respect.” 

Dr.  Javier  Prado,  Rector  of  the  University  of  San  Mar- 
cos at  Lima,  Peru,  in  a commencement  address,  praises  the 
soundness  of  North  American  life  and  institutions,  as 
follows : 

“Facing  reality,  the  United  States  is  a nation  orientated 
and  in  continuous  tension  toward  life  and  action.  Her  feel- 
ing is  lively  and  expansive,  her  intellect  clear  and  penetrat- 
ing, her  character  firm,  energetic,  and  audacious.  She  pos- 
sesses will,  enthusiasm,  faith,  and  idealism  for  effort  and 
great  enterprises. 

“Every  man  is  valued  for  his  energy  and  activity  and  he 
finds  open  paths  for  the  development  of  his  spirit  of  en- 
deavor. The  true  stimulus  and  pride  of  the  American  con- 
sists in  being  the  child  of  effort,  in  struggling  and  in 
triumphing.  Obstacle  and  danger  attract  and  stimulate  his 
energies,  and  the  greater  they  are,  the  greater  are  his  eager- 
ness and  satisfaction  in  facing  and  overcoming  them. 

“The  American’s  activity  never  rests.  It  embraces  every 
kind  of  life  and  occupation,  passing  from  one  to  another 
wfith  admirable  facility,  rapidity,  and  adaptation.  His  en- 
ergy feels  the  impulse  to  go  always  onward  and  upward. 
Thus  progress  never  stops,  but  advances  and  spreads  without 
limitation  and  without  end. 

“In  the  field  of  labor  the  North  American  earnestly 
seeks  wealth,  but  this  does  not  constitute,  as  many  errone- 
ously fancy,  the  aim  of  his  existence.  He  does  not  pursue 
it  or  esteem  it  as  something  to  be  hoarded,  but  as  a means 
and  agent  of  his  activity  ever  in  movement,  and  as  a power 
creative  of  new  enterprises.  American  wealth  in  continual 
circulation  thus  develops  and  multiplies  incalculable  energies, 
and  its  treasures  never  stagnate  or  become  exhausted,  but 


PAN  AMERICANISM  VS.  PAN  LATINISM  355 


they  are  mobilized,  and  they  increase  and  grow  in  infinite 
progression. 

“Within  this  marvelous  environment  for  human  activity 
the  most  humble  individual  can  achieve  by  his  aptitude  and 
energy  the  highest  positions.  The  true  American  aristocracy 
is  founded,  not  upon  castes,  inheritance,  or  privileges,  but 
upon  personal  worth,  upon  a life  of  effort  and  success  in  it. 
American  individualism  is  thus  spontaneous,  wholesome 
and  energetic,  with  a deep  sentiment  of  its  liberty,  and  in 
constant  and  creative  action.  In  a country  that  develops  its 
energies  in  this  way,  social  inequalities  may  not  be  invoked 
upon  any  just  grounds,  since  all  have  free  scope  for  their 
aptitudes  and  activity.” 

Over  against  the  “Song  of  Hate,”  written  by  Ruben 
Dario  against  the  Yankees,  may  be  set  the  writings  of  the 
Peruvian  poet,  Chocano.  He  sings  his  songs  of  belief  in 
America,  opposing  the  pessimism  of  most  of  the  writers  of 
his  time  as  he  opposes  their  fear  of  the  Yankees.  He  sees 
indeed  in  his  “Istmo  de  Panama,”  in  which  he  praises  the 
energy  of  the  Anglo-Saxon,  the  joint  control  of  America  by 
Saxons  and  Latins.  In  his  “Blason”  he  says : 

“I  am  the  singer  of  America,  aboriginal  and  wild,  my  lyre 
has  a soul,  my  song  an  ideal.  When  I feel  myself  an  Inca,  I 
render  homage  to  the  Sun,  which  gives  me  the  scepter  of 
royal  power.  When  I feel  my  Spanish  blood,  I evoke 
colonial  days.  My  verses  are  like  trumpets  of  crystal.” 

Of  course  it  would  be  quite  wrong  for  us  to  conclude  that 
this  friendlier  movement  only  began  with  the  World  War. 
Since  the  opening  of  the  Panama  Canal  particularly,  and  the 
consequent  increased  interest  of  the  United  States  in  Latin 
America,  there  have  been  many  signs  of  reciprocal  appre- 
ciation by  our  southern  neighbors.  In  1910  Senor  Roque 
Garrigo,  Cuban  deputy,  condemned  Iberic  influence.  His 
eloquent  book,  “America  for  the  Americans,”  analyzes  the 
diverse  aspects  of  the  Spanish  decadence,  the  illiteracy  of 
Spain,  the  stationary  condition  of  its  industry,  and  its 
uncertain  moral  life,  and  shows  the  great  advantages  to  be 
found  in  close  relations  with  the  United  States. 


356 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


The  establishment  of  North  American  banks  and  agencies 
for  our  large  manufacturing  concerns  in  the  principal  cities 
of  South  America  has  had  more  influence  in  promoting 
friendly  relations  than  would  be  supposed  by  superficial  ob- 
servers. It  has  also  led  to  some  interesting  social  changes. 
For  instance,  in  Chile,  where  workmen  in  the  past  have  been 
very  badly  treated,  some  of  the  North  American  Anns  have 
set  up  new  industrial  standards.  They  have  increased  wages 
and  put  in  modern  welfare  work,  with  workmen’s  cottages, 
clubs,  and  the  prohibition  of  liquor.  This  welfare  work  has 
had  such  splendid  results  that  other  firms  have  found  it 
worth  while  to  send  men  to  the  United  States  to  study  such 
work  in  order  to  retain  their  workmen. 

The  recent  disposition  of  the  United  States  to  change  its 
attitude  toward  the  Latin  American  peoples  from  jingoism 
to  a real  sympathy  and  appreciation  is  another  influence  that 
is  promoting  international  friendship.  The  wise  utterances 
of  President  Wilson  in  his  Mobile  speech,  and  on  other 
occasions,  have  gone  far  to  assure  the  Latin  Americans  that 
we  have  no  designs  upon  their  territory.  Our  staying  out 
of  Mexico,  when  all  recognized  that,  according  to  interna- 
tional custom,  we  had  a right  to  intervene,  has  had  a re- 
markable influence  toward  clearing  us  from  the  suspicions 
long  held  by  the  Latin  Americans. 

La  Prensa  of  Buenos  Aires,  perhaps  the  best-known  of 
South  American  dailies,  commented  on  President  Wilson’s 
address  to  Congress,  December  7,  1915,  as  follows: 


“There  has  been  a gradual  and  continuous  change  in  the 
American  policy  toward  the  republics  of  this  continent. 
These  changes  have  been  coincident  with  the  visits  of  promi- 
nent Americans  to  South  America,  with  the  result  that  a 
better  knowledge  of  the  state  of  civilization  which  has  been 
reached  by  South  Americans  has  became  more  general. 
This  has  been  the  principal  cause  of  the  gradual  transforma- 
tion. The  Monroe  Doctrine  is  now  essentially  modified.  It 
is  necessary  that  it  should  no  longer  have  the  character  of 
tutelage  that  it  had  at  the  time  of  its  origin,  but  it  must 
undergo  an  evolution  toward  Pan  Americanism. 


PAN  AMERICANISM  VS.  PAN  LATINISM  S57 


The  exchange  of  visits  between  university  professors  of 
North  and  South  America  during  these  recent  years,  and  the 
large  number  of  Latin  American  students  who  have  studied 
in  North  American  institutions,  have  made  most  important 
contributions  to  this  development  of  friendship. 

It  is  impossible  to  estimate  the  influence  for  closer  friend- 
ship of  such  professors  as  Dr.  Jose  M.  Galvez,  who  has  sent 
ten  Chilean  students  to  the  United  States  in  the  last  three 
years ; and  Professor  Ernesto  Nelson  of  Argentina,  who  has 
a most  commendable  plan  for  enlarging  our  educational 
relationships.  One  would  like  to  go  into  detail  in  this  mat- 
ter, telling  of  the  contributions  being  made  by  distinguished 
educationalists  such  as  Ernesto  Quesada  and  Jose  Ingenieros 
of  Argentina,  Olivera  Lima  and  Helio  Lobo  of  Brazil,  Abel 
J.  Perez  and  Zorella  de  San  Martin  of  Uruguay,  Javier 
Prado  and  Victor  Andres  Belaunde  of  Peru,  Enrique  Mo- 
lina and  Jose  Maria  Galvez  of  Chile,  Andres  Osuna  of  Mex- 
ico, and  others,  whose  far-reaching  service  I have  come  to 
know  and  understand.  The  visits  of  some  of  our  own  uni- 
versity professors  to  Latin  America,  such  as  William  R. 
Shepherd,  Leo  S.  Rowe,  and  Edward  A.  Ross,  and  Chap- 
man, have  also  done  great  good.  Such  visits  are  forerun- 
ners of  exchange  professorships,  which  are  all  too  slow  in 
being  inaugurated. 

The  constant  friendly  influence  of  the  North  American 
missionaries  through  the  years  must  certainly  be  set  down 
as  also  far-reaching.  No  man  that  has  an  open  mind  can  fail 
to  realize  that  the  work  of  such  men  as  W.  E.  Browning, 
H.  C.  Tucker,  W.  A.  Waddell,  John  W.  Butler,  Chas.  W. 
Dreese,  David  Trumbull,  and  many  others  like  them,  has  an 
influence  for  international  good  will  impossible  to  calculate. 
A book  might  easily  be  written  on  what  the  evangelical 
schools  are  doing  in  interpreting  Latin  and  North  America 
to  each  other.  The  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association 
is  particularly  adapted  to  this  work  of  international  friend- 
ship, inasmuch  as  it  reaches  many  of  the  influential  classes 
who  are  not  yet  willing  to  have  relationship  with  a work 
which  is  directly  missionary. 

It  would  be  easy  to  continue  the  quotations  such  as  those 
from  Semprun  and  Barcos  to  show  how  Latin  American 


358 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


authors  during  the  last  few  years  have  spoken  favor- 
ably concerning  closer  relations  with  the  United  States.  In 
other  chapters  several  have  been  cited.  Let  the  final  one 
here  then  be  from  the  veteran  Mexican  writer  and  jurist, 
Senor  R.  de  Zayas  Enriquez.  In  a notable  article  published 
in  La  Nueva  Democracia,  concerning  dangers  of  anti-Amer- 
icanism, Dr.  Enriquez  opposes  in  the  first  place  the  ideas  of 
Garcia  Calderon,  Manuel  Ugarte  and  others  who  have  sug- 
gested an  alliance  with  the  Germans  or  the  Japanese,  to  de- 
fend themselves  from  the  United  States.  He  continues: 
“These  opinions  and  others  of  the  kind  are  very  general 
from  Mexico  to  Patagonia.  The  United  States  should  re- 
alize this  and  the  Latin  Americans  should  study  with  much 
pains  how  to  eliminate  prejudice  in  order  that  the  future 
of  our  respective  republics  shall  not  be  compromised  and 
another  world  conflict  provoked.  The  United  States  cannot 
afford  to  reject  these  opinions  as  absurdities,  for  in  politics 
nothing  is  absurd.  The  Latin  Americans,  on  their  side, 
should  reject  these  extreme  ideas  and  avoid  a danger,  which 
if  it  seems  remote,  means  delivering  themselves  into  the  arms 
of  powers  with  which  there  are  no  natural  kinships,  for  these 
are  peoples  with  whom  it  is  not  possible  for  us  to  associate ; 
neither  Germany  nor  Japan  are  races  with  which  we  could 
mix. 

“Germany  is  absorbent  and  exclusive.  It  does  not  wish 
to  enter  as  a competitor  nor  as  a co-laborer  but  as  the  sole 
owner.  It  does  not  wish  to  contribute  to  the  development  of 
our  countries  but  to  their  exploitation.  Concerning  Japan 
it  ought  to  be  remembered  that  only  a few  years  ago  the 
famous  Count  Okuma  declared  frankly  that  South  America 
was  understood  as  in  the  sphere  of  influence  of  Japan.  We 
Latin  Americans  ought  to  realize  that  there  are  no  gratui- 
tous alliances,  for  all  result  badly  for  the  weak  one, — all 
without  exception.  Japanese  intervention  in  our  destiny 
would  signify  the  death  of  the  nationality  of  the  people  that 
admitted  it,  and,  therefore,  it  is  inexcusable  to  pretend  that 
it  would  serve  to  defend  our  autonomy. 

“I  do  not  believe  that  the  United  States  will  carry  its  im- 
perialism to  the  point  of  desperation,  causing  the  Latin 
American  spirit  to  commit  suicide.  Neither  do  I wish  to 


PAN  AMERICANISM  VS.  PAN  LATINISM 


359 


believe  the  Latin  Americans  will  carry  their  anti-American- 
ism to  the  point  where  they  will  submit  voluntarily  to  Pan 
Germanism  or  Panjapanism  in  spite  of  what  some  authors 
say. 

“Let  us  ask,  in  case  the  United  States  should  be  invaded 
by  a foreign  power,  a hypothesis  which  is  not  inadmissible, 
what  attitude  would  the  Hispanic  American  nations  take? 
It  is  possible  that  some  thinkers  listening  to  the  voice  of  re- 
sentment, because  of  the  acts  of  the  Yankees  so  often  men- 
tioned, would  advise  our  entering  on  the  side  of  the  aggres- 
sors, forgetting  that  international  politics  does  not  proceed 
from  sentiments  nor  from  resentments,  very  rarely  from 
abstract  principles,  but  almost  always  from  conveniences, 
which  because  it  is  a matter  of  dealing  with  foreigners  is 
generally  a matter  that  affects  the  vital  interests  of  our  own 
country,  that  causes  us  to  decide. 

“The  instinct  of  conservation  would  oblige  us,  in  such  a 
remote  case,  to  give  our  moral  aid,  if  we  could  not  offer 
anything  more  effective,  to  the  north  American  union,  con- 
verting the  original  Monroe  Doctrine  into  a continental  prin- 
ciple, as  an  eloquent  protest  against  all  foreign  invasion. 

“For  I am  persuaded,  in  spite  of  what  I have  said  here 
and  in  other  places,  concerning  the  imperialism  of  the  United 
States,  all  of  the  republics  of  this  continent  have  a vital  in- 
terest in  the  existence  of  the  United  States  as  a prosperous 
and  strong  nation.  Our  life  is  united  to  hers  in  an  inex- 
plicable nature. 

“The  moment  that  she  should  disappear  or  her  forces  be 
divided  or  her  moral  influence  weakened,  the  Hispanic- 
American  powers  would  be  at  the  mercy  of  the  great  Euro- 
pean nations  and  Japan.  On  what  powers  of  men  and 
money  would  we  be  able  to  count  to  resist  their  advances? 
Brazil,  Argentina  and  Chile,  that  are  the  three  most  power- 
ful countries,  supposing  that  they  should  unite  together, 
would  with  great  difficulty  accomplish  an  almost  impossible 
task.  The  others,  Mexico  included,  which  is  the  largest, 
would  be  able  to  carry  out  great  acts  of  heroism  which 
finally  would  result  in  failure. 

“We  should  realize  that  Germany,  in  spite  of  the  situation 
in  which  she  has  been  left  by  the  war,  in  a few  years  will  be 


360 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


in  a position  to  struggle  with  great  advantage  against  any  of 
our  Latin  American  nations,  but  she  will  certainly  not  at- 
tempt it  while  the  United  States  shows  itself  formidable. 

“It  is  not  the  much  debated  Monroe  Doctrine  that  saves 
us,  but  it  is  the  force  that  is  behind  this  Doctrine.  It  is  not 
the  altruistic  love  of  the  United  States  that  favors  us,  but 
the  national  interests  of  the  Yankees  that  no  European 
power  shall  establish  itself  nor  become  a preponderant  in- 
fluence on  this  continent;  and  if  this  does  not  behoove  the 
United  States,  no  less  does  it  behoove  the  Latin  American 
nations,  for  we  might  easily  lose  our  autonomy  and  become 
colonies  of  European  countries. 

“Besides  these  political  considerations  there  are  also  econ- 
omic considerations  which  are  of  great  importance.  Since, 
therefore,  there  does  not  only  exist  reciprocity  of  economic 
interests  but  political  interests  among  all  the  peoples  of  this 
continent,  why  not  come  to  a definite  understanding,  in  order 
that  there  may  disappear  all  that  is  disagreeable,  undesirable 
and  dangerous  in  our  relations  and  foment  and  develop  all 
that  is  good  and  that  we  recognize  as  necessary?  Let  us 
establish  at  once  Pan  Hispanism  as  a secure  basis  for  Con- 
tinentalism  which  will  be  the  perpetual  guarantee  for  all  the 
peoples  of  the  New  World. 

“If  I say  Continentalism  instead  of  Pan  Americanism  it  is 
because  the  last  term  is  somewhat  discredited  among  the 
Latin  American  people,  who  take  it  as  a concept  thai  involves 
the  hegemony  of  the  United  States  over  the  rest  of  the 
continent.  Let  the  United  States  and  Latin  America  per- 
suade themselves  that  America  cannot  occupy  its  proper 
place  in  the  balance  of  world  power  until  it  is  united  politi- 
cally. With  the  establishment  of  continentalism,  America 
will  occupy  its  proper  place  among  the  nations,  maintaining 
the  equilibrium  of  the  world,  a work  for  which  it  has  been 
predestined.” 

To  a certain  extent  the  two  schools  of  thought,  into  which 
Southern  America  is  divided, — Pan  Latinism  and  Pan  Amer- 
icanism,— revolve  around  mere  sentiment  and  misunder- 
standing. Tancredo  Pinochet,  a Chilean  who  has  lived  in 
several  countries  of  North  and  South  America,  has  recently 


PAN  AMERICANISM  VS.  PAN  LATINISM 


361 


written  a most  excellent  book  called  “The  Gulf  of  Misunder- 
standing,” which  shows  how  the  Latin  American  for  various 
reasons  has  completely  misunderstood  the  North  American. 
Due  to  many  of  the  influences  mentioned  in  the  early  part 
of  this  chapter  Senor  Pinochet  shows  that  the  North  Ameri- 
can has  been  misjudged  in  regard  to  such  important  subjects 
as  materialism,  imperialism,  treatment  of  the  negroes, 
woman  suffrage,  marriage  and  divorce,  religion  and  edu- 
cation. 

In  so  far  as  the  prejudice  of  Latin  Americans  against  the 
United  States  is  due  to  misunderstandings  and  enemy  propa- 
ganda, and  the  attacks  of  the  Pan  Latinists  are  unjust,  we 
should  counteract  this  movement  with  a careful  campaign 
for  spreading  the  truth — a serious  task  which  challenges  the 
best  and  noblest  talent  of  the  nation.  In  so  far  as  are  just 
these  claims  that  we  are  rude,  uncultured,  unsympathetic, 
materialistic,  lacking  in  appreciation  of  others’  good  quali- 
ties, interested  only  in  their  mines,  their  oil,  their  wheat  and 
their  territory,  we  should  strive  with  all  our  power  to  correct 
them.  Happily  there  are  to-day  many  organizations  in  both 
the  continents  that  are  working  unselfishly  and  unceasingly 
on  both  of  these  problems. 

North  Americans  should  always  make  it  clear  that  they 
do  not  object  to  but  rather  approve  the  Latin  family  stand- 
ing together,  just  as  they  believe  that  it  is  a good  thing  for 
English-speaking  peoples  to  stand  together,  so  long  as  it  is 
not  for  the  purpose  of  resisting  other  racial  groups.  Indeed, 
all  those  who  have  come  to  appreciate  the  beauties  and  won- 
ders of  Hispanic  culture  would  be  glad  to  see  this  culture 
conserved  by  its  inheritors.  A close  relationship  between 
the  mother  countries  of  Spain  and  Portugal  with  their  chil- 
dren in  America,  not  antagonistic  to  others,  should  rejoice 
the  world.  The  same  should  be  the  case  of  unity  among  the 
various  Latin  peoples  of  America.  President  Brum  of  Uru- 
guay has  recently  stated  that  all  Latin  America  should  form 
a federation  among  themselves  and  enter  unitedly  with  the 
United  States  into  an  inter-American  agreement.  Thus  he 
thought  Latin  America’s  prestige  might  be  increased  as  well 
as  her  contribution  to  Pan  Americanism.  The  North  Amer- 
ican colony  in  Montevideo  immediately  approved  this  sug- 


362 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


gestion.  When  Panama  recently  appealed  to  Argentina,  de- 
nying the  validity  of  the  decision  of  the  United  States  con- 
cerning territory  under  dispute  with  Costa  Rica,  Secretary 
of  State  Hughes  willingly  sent  all  documents  in  the  case  to 
the  Argentine  authorities.  Unity  of  family  groups  among 
nations  can  do  only  good  so  long  as  they  are  based  on  jus- 
tice and  good  will,  not  for  themselves  alone  but  for  the  rest 
of  the  world. 

Sources  of  Further  Information  on  Pan  Americanism  vs. 
Pan  Latinism 

Altamira,  Rafael:  Espana  en  America. 

Araquistain,  Luis:  El  Peligro  Yanqui. 

Berenguer,  Fernando:  El  Hispano-Americanismo. 

Blanco-Fombona  : Grandes  Escritores  de  America. 

Bulnes,  Francisco:  Las  Grandes  Mentiras  de  Nuestra  Historia. 
Calderon,  F.  Garcia:  La  Creacion  de  un  Continente,  Wilsonismo. 
Enriquez  R.  de  Zayas:  “La  Nueva  Democracia,”  August,  1920. 
Garrigo,  Roque  E. : America  para  los  Americanos. 

Gaxiola,  Jose:  La  Frontera  de  la  Raza. 

Giberga,  Eliseo:  El  Pan  Americanismo  y el  Pan  Hispanismo. 
Godoy,  F.  Garcia  : Literatura  Americana  de  Nuestros  Dias. 

Lobo,  Helio  : Causas  Diplomaticas. 

Manero,  Antonio:  Mexico  y la  Solidaridad  Americana. 

Ortiz,  Fernando:  La  Reconquista  de  la  America. 

Pinochet,  Tancredo:  The  Gulf  of  Misunderstanding. 

Posada,  Adolfo:  En  America,  una  Campana. 

Pereyra,  Carlos:  El  Crimen  de  Woodrow  Wilson. 

Prado,  Eduardo:  A Ilusao  Americano. 

Prada,  Javier:  La  Nueva  Epoca  y los  Destinos  Historicos  de 
los  Estados  Unidos. 

Rodo,  Jose  Enrique:  Ariel. 

Ugarte,  M. : El  Porvenir  de  la  America  Latina.  ' 

Vargas  Vila,  J.  M. : Ante  los  Barbaros. 

World  Peace  Foundation:  The  New  Pan  Americanism,  Part  II. 
Files  of  Inter-America  and  La  Reforma  Social. 


Chapter  X 

NEXT  STEPS  IN  INTER-AMERICAN  FRIENDSHIP 


Let  us,  in  conclusion,  glance  at  the  past  and  then  look  for 
a moment  at  the  possible  future  of  inter-American  relations. 
The  cool  monopolizing  of  the  name  “American”  by  the  peo- 
ple of  the  United  States  alone  shows  how  difficult  it  is  for 
us  to  include  in  our  consciousness  the  other  twenty  Ameri- 
can republics.  Many  even  of  the  great  North  American 
advocates  of  world  brotherhood  pass  by  Hispanic  America 
as  though  it  did  not  exist.  There  may  have  been  excuses  for 
this  in  the  past,  but  certainly  there  is  none  today  and  the 
continuance  of  such  an  attitude  involves  a tremendous  peril. 

The  rest  of  the  world  is  watching  these  growing  young 
nations  with  the  deepest  interest,  recognizing  the  far-reach- 
ing developments  that  already  foretell  the  important  place 
these  countries  are  to  occupy  in  future  world  life.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  rest  of  the  world  is  coming  to  count  North 
America’s  attitude  toward  these  nearest  neighbors  as  the 
best  interpretation  of  our  whole  national  life.  We  cannot 
render  the  service  we  should  in  bringing  about  world  broth- 
erhood until  we  have  set  our  own  house  in  order.  It  ought 
to  be  of  profound  concern  to  every  North  American  that 
one  of  the  best  known  poems  in  Latin  America,  a favorite 
recitation  even  for  school  children,  is  one  by  the  celebrated 
Ruben  Dario,  the  following  being  a partial  translation  of 
this  awful  indictment  of  North  American  Materialism,  dedi- 
cated to  President  Roosevelt : 

“Tis  only  with  the  Bible  and  Walt  Whitman’s  verse, 

That  you  the  mighty  hunter  are  reached  by  other  men. 

You’re  primitive  and  modern,  you’re  simple  and  complex, 

A veritable  Nimrod,  with  aught  of  Washington. 

You  are  the  United  States. 


363 


364 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


You  are  the  future  foe 

Of  free  America  that  keeps  its  Indian  blood, 

That  prays  to  Jesus  Christ,  and  speaks  in  Spanish  still. 

You  are  a fine  example  of  a strong  and  haughty  race, 

The  United  States  are  rich;  they’re  powerful  and  great; 

They  join  the  cult  of  Mammon  to  that  of  Hercules, 

And  when  they  stir  or  roar  the  very  Andes  shake  * * * 

And  though  you  count  on  all,  one  thing  is  lacking — God!” 

Version  of  E.  C.  Hills. 

Latin  America  did  not  always  think  of  us  in  that  way. 
In  the  early  days  of  her  struggle  into  national  life  she  ad- 
mired us  and  looked  forward  to  an  American.  Union.  The 
great  Bolivar  called  the  Panama  Congress  in  1826  to  form 
an  American  League  of  Nations,  and  said; 

“When  more  favorable  circumstances  afford  us  more  fre- 
quent communications  and  closer  relations,  we  shall  hasten, 
with  the  liveliest  interest,  to  set  on  foot,  on  our  part,  the 
American  covenant,  which  by  forming  one  political  body  of 
all  our  republics,  shall  present  America  to  the  world  with 
an  aspect  of  majesty  and  greatness  without  parallel  among 
the  ancient  nations.  America,  thus  united,  will  be  able  to 
call  herself  the  queen  of  nations,  the  mother  of  republics.” 

That  wonderful  spirit  of  the  South  was  matched  by  an 
equally  great  champion  of  American  Unity  in  the  North, 
the  indomitable  Henry  Clay,  who,  in  urging  Congress  to 
recognize  the  struggle  of  the  Spanish  colonies,  said: 

“In  the  establishment  of  the  independence  of  Spanish 
America  the  United  States  has  the  deepest  interest.  I have 
no  hesitation  in  asserting  my  firm  belief  that  there  is  no  ques- 
tion in  the  foreign  policy  of  this  country  which  has  ever 
arisen  or  can  arise  in  the  decision  of  which  we  can  have 
so  much  at  stake.  This  interest  affects  our  politics,  our 
commerce,  our  navigation.  These  Spanish-American  gov- 
ernments, once  independent,  will  be  animated  by  an  Ameri- 
can feeling  and  guided  by  an  American  policy.  * * * We 
are  their  great  example.  Of  us  they  constantly  speak  as  of 
brothers,  having  a similar  origin.  They  adopt  our  principles, 
copy  our  institutions  and  often  employ  the  very  language 
and  sentiments  of  our  revolutionary  papers.” 


NEXT  STEPS  IN  INTER-AMERICAN  FRIENDSHIP  365 

Unfortunately  these  words  of  Clay  ceased  to  he  true 
after  the  Mexican  War,  which  clearly  marked  the  time  when 
to  a large  extent  they  ceased  to  “constantly  speak  of  us  as 
brothers.”  A decade  later  the  expeditions  of  the  filibuster 
W alker  to  Central  America  drove  a number  of  the  southern 
republics  into  an  alliance  against  the  “Manifest  Destiny” 
program  of  their  northern  neighbor.  A series  of  incidents 
in  our  relations  with  Chile,  including  our  favoring  more 
consideration  for  Peru,  when  she  was  conquered  by  Chile, 
our  compelling  an  apology  for  the  killing  of  the  sailors  of 
the  “Baltimore”  and  the  brusque  forcing  of  payment  of  the 
Alsop  Claim,  set  that  country  and  her  very  strong  influ- 
ence in  Ecuador  and  Colombia  against  us.  The  Spanish 
American  War,  instead  of  appealing  to  Latin  America  as 
a.  demonstration  of  our  idealism,  seemed  to  her  the  act  of 
a bully  attacking  a weak,  exhausted  neighbor  for  commer- 
cial advantages,  and  gave  rise  to  an  influential  school  of 
advocates  of  Pan  Hispanism.  The  Platt  Amendment  and 
the  occupation  of  Porto  Rico  and  the  Philippines  were  to 
them  clear  proof  of  this.  The  protection  of  Panama  iif  its 
revolution  against  Colombia  and  the  securing  of  the  Canal 
Zone  without  recompense  to  Colombia;  the  interference  in 
the  internal  affairs  of  Central  America,  with  the  permanent 
establishment  of  a guard  of  marines  in  Nicaragua  and  the 
violation  of  rights  of  other  Central  American  nations  by  the 
Bryan-Chamorro  treaty  with  Nicaragua ; the  Lodge  Amend- 
ment, prohibiting  all  Latin  American  nations  from  exercis- 
ing sovereignty  in  disposing  of  their  national  domain;  the 
forcible  establishment  of  a protectorate  over  Haiti ; the 
establishment  of  a military  government  in  Santo  Domingo; 
the  capture  of  Vera  Cruz  and  the  Pershing  Expedition  into 
Mexico — these  are  the  outstanding  explanations  for  the 
prejudice  as  expressed  by  the  poet  Dario  and  by  many  oth- 
ers, as  pointed  out  in  the  course  of  this  discussion. 

If  one  were  addressing  the  Hispanic  Americans,  he  would 
point  out  the  vitally  erroneous  interpretation  they  put  on 
many  of  these  events,  and  they  would  set  over  against 
them  our  mediation  in  the  war  between  Spain  and  her  for- 
mer colonies  in  1870;  our  action  forcing  the  withdrawal  of 
French  troops  from  Mexico;  our  protection  of  Venezuela 


366 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


from  European  aggression;  the  freeing  of  Cuba;  our  con- 
tribution to  order,  education  and  civilization  in  the  Carib- 
bean, and  many  other  services  rendered  to  our  less  powerful 
neighbors.  Just  now,  however,  we  are  talking  to  ourselves; 
not  for  defense  or  for  tickling  our  vanity,  but  for  self- 
examination  and  an  understanding  of  how  we  appear 
to  our  neighbors.  This  is  no  pleasant  task,  but  since 
those  of  us  who  live  among  our  southern  neighbors  must 
continually  hear  such  criticism,  it  is  probably  not  more 
than  just  that  those  at  home  should  face  up  to  it  once  in 
a while. 

In  1914,  after  living  in  this  atmosphere  of  suspicion  in 
Mexico  for  ten  years,  I visited  practically  all  the  other  Latin 
American  countries  and  found  the  same  suspicion  as  in 
Mexico.  I came  to  the  conclusion  that  this  distrust  was  the 
greatest  hindrance  in  the  development  of  North  American 
spiritual,  commercial  and  intellectual  influence  in  the  South 
and  that  there  was  no  more  important  service  than  that 
of  breaking  down  this  “middle  wall  of  partition.” 

On  my  next  visit  to  South  America,  in  1917,  I found  a 
most  encouraging  change  in  the  situation.  Our  entrance  into 
the  World  War,  -with  its  unselfish  implications,  had  con- 
vinced our  southern  neighbors  that  we  were  really  ideal- 
istic. “American  Solidarity”  was  the  expression  most  often 
heard.  Even  the  university  students,  who  had  been  the  most 
violent  anti-Yankees,  now  showed  themselves  especially  cor- 
dial. As  a result  of  meetings  with  the  students  in  Chile, 
where  Yankeephobia  had  been  most  noticeable,  they  later 
sent  a representative  to  this  country.  It  was  my  pleasant 
duty  to  help  outline  his  itinerary  for  a visit  to  the  North 
American  colleges  to  consult  with  students  as  to  what  the 
students  of  the  two  countries  might  do  toward  bringing 
their  peoples  nearer  together.  The  growing  cordiality  be- 
tween the  two  nations  is  notable.  Chile  recently  placed  a 
loan  in  the  United  States.  This  new  drawing  together  is 
typical  of  the  whole  of  America.  It  is  the  outstanding  hap- 
pening in  Pan  American  relations  during  the  last  twenty 
years. 

Even  Ruben  Dario  changes  his  attitude  of  indignation 
toward  the  Colossus  and  more  recently  has  sung : 


NEXT  STEPS  IN  INTER-AMERICAN  FRIENDSHIP  367 

“No,  let  not  hatred  discharge  its  arro-v; 

Bear  to  the  altar  of  peace  honey  and  roses. 

Peace  to  stupendous  America  ! Peace,  in  the  name  of  God ! 

And  as  hers  is  the  center  of  a new  culture 

That  spreads  its  principles  from  north  to  south. 

Let  us  build  a new  union  that  unfurls  a new  device : 

The  Star  Spangled  Banner  with  its  red,  white  and  blue.” 

These  closer  relationships  have  been  developing  also  in 
the  commercial  world.  When  Europe  could  no  longer  fur- 
nish capital  and  manufactured  goods  Latin  America  was 
compelled  to  come  to  us.  So  the  foreign  commerce  be- 
tween the  United  States  and  her  southern  neighbors  has 
grown  from  700  millions  in  1913  to  practically  3 billions 
in  1920.  If  we  did  as  much  business  with  the  rest  of  the 
world  as  we  did  with  Latin  America,  proportionately,  our 
trade  would  total  45  billions  instead  of  12  billions. 

In  spiritual  matters  our  southern  neighbors  have  also 
come  to  be  more  open  to  North  American  ideas.  In  former 
time  the  educated  classes  had  largely  turned  against  the 
Church.  Since  she  was  opposed  to  education,  to  democracy, 
to  progress  and  to  science,  the  educated  people  lost  interest 
in  all  religion.  Evolution  and  the  economic  theory  of  life 
came  to  be  all-sufficient.  But  when  they  saw  that  the  most 
scientific  of  nations  was  the  one  that  had  led  the  world 
astray  they  began  to  realize  that  they  must  have  a spiritual 
basis  for  their  own  national  life  or  fail  to  attain  true  great- 
ness. The  change  from  the  old  attitude  to  the  new  is  well 
illustrated  by  the  university  students.  In  the  old  days  they 
very  often  organized  a manifiesto  and  paraded  the  streets 
in  protest  against  some  abuse  by  the  Church  or  the  State. 
But  a few  months  ago  the  students  of  Cordova  organized  a 
demonstration  and  paraded  the  streets  in  a new  spirit.  No 
longer  did  their  banners  say  “Down  with  the  Priests”  or 
“Death  to  the  Foreigners”  or  any  other  negative  demand. 
Their  banners  bore  only  the  significant  words,  “Luz,  mas 
Luz”  (Light,  more  Light!).  This  to-day  is  the  universal 
cry  of  the  younger  element  in  every  part  of  Latin  America. 
They  realize  that  the  world  is  facing  a new  day.  And  they 
want  light  on  its  meaning. 

And  to  whom  do  they  look  to  furnish  this  light  ? A dis- 


368 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


tinguished  South  American  educator  said  recently : “All  my 
life  I have  looked  to  France  for  my  spiritual  inspiration. 
But  to-day  I believe  that  unless  North  America  shall  save 
the  world  it  will  not  be  saved.” 

While  it  is  true  that  the  world  reaction  toward  selfishness 
following  the  war,  which  has  been  seen  so  clearly  in  the 
United  States,  has  abated  somewhat  this  enthusiasm  for 
North  America,  it  is  still  true  that  never  in  American  his- 
tory has  there  been  such  a favorable  setting  for  the  great 
Pan  American  drama.  The  supplanting  of  suspicion  by  a 
desire  for  friendship,  the  multiplication  of  means  of  com- 
munication, the  interdependence  of  economic  life,  a new 
open-mindedness  concerning  spiritual  matters  and  an  ever- 
increasing  mutual  appreciation  have  brought  us  to  this  truly 
wonderful  opportunity. 

But  if  all  are  to  play  their  parts  with  the  enthusiasm  re- 
quired to  make  this  great  American  drama  a success,  there 
must  be  sympathy  and  mutual  concern  on  the  part  of  all. 
On  the  part  of  the  older,  stronger  actor  there  must  be  a 
double  portion  of  respect  and  helpfulness  for  the  other 
players.  And  certainly  the  star  of  the  play,  because  of  his 
riches,  power  and  reputation,  must  not  seek  to  use  the  other 
characters  simply  to  add  to  the  glory  of  the  central  figure. 

Let  us  consider  some  of  the  practical  steps  that  ought  to 
be  taken  by  the  United  States  for  the  development  of  a real 
Pan  Americanism. 


EARLY  IDEALISM 

We  ought  to  maintain  the  idealism  which  drew  Latin 
America  to  us  during  the  World  War.  Confidence  in  this 
idealism  has  been  strained  in  Hispanic  American  minds  by 
the  reaction  that  has  set  in  here  since  the  armistice.  There 
is  a growing  fear  that  we  will  use  our  financial  and  military 
power  to  oppress  weaker  peoples.  The  talk  of  huge  navies 
and  high  tariffs  has  a sad  reaction  in  South  America.  There 
is  a feeling  that  we  have  suddenly  drawn  within  ourselves 
instead  of  using  our  great  resources  in  guiding  the  recon- 
struction of  the  world.  Latin  America  does  not  care  par- 
ticularly about  the  form  that  a league  of  nations  may  take, 


NEXT  STEPS  IN  INTER-AMERICAN  FRIENDSHIP  369 


but  she  is  tremendously  in  favor  of  a league  that  will  pro- 
tect the  small  peoples.  An  ex-president  of  Brazil  was  re- 
cently asked  whether  or  not  his  country,  having  followed  the 
United  States  into  the  war,  would  resign  from  the  League 
of  Nations  if  the  United  States  did  not  enter.  He  replied 
that  Brazil  would  then  feel  it  doubly  her  duty  to  remain  in 
the  League,  for  she  would  have  to  represent  the  idealism 
of  both  nations.  Another  prominent  South  American  de- 
clared that  if  it  became  necessary  for  South  America  to 
choose  between  the  Monroe  Doctrine  and  the  League  of  Na- 
tions, it  would  choose  the  League. 

We  ought  to  study  how  to  eliminate  all  those  objection- 
able features  in  our  dealings  with  our  southern  friends  which 
have  come  to  be  designated  as  the  Big  Stick,  Dollar  Diplo- 
macy, and  Shirt-sleeve  Diplomacy. 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  visit  of  Admiral 
Caperton’s  warships  to  Brazil,  Uruguay  and  Argentina  dur- 
ing the  war  as  one  of  the  most  important  events  in  the  de- 
velopment of  closer  international  relations  between  North 
and  South  America.  It  was  natural  that  some  Latin  Amer- 
icans should  see  in  the  fleet’s  visit  a threat  of  force,  as  they 
do  in  many  of  North  America’s  gestures  of  friendship.  At 
that  time  this  was  especially  true  in  Argentina,  where  even 
after  the  fleet’s  arrival  some  of  the  prominent  men  of  the 
country  retained  the  idea  that  the  visit  had  been  forced 
upon  them.  It  was  most  interesting,  however,  to  see  the 
way  in  which  a direct  acquaintance  with  our  admiral  and 
his  men  changed  this  attitude.  I recall  particularly  a con- 
versation that  I had  with  a prominent  professor  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Buenos  Aires.  Before  the  fleet’s  visit  we  had 
talked  over  carefully  various  problems  connected  with  the 
enlargement  of  friendship  between  our  two  countries.  He 
had  expressed  his  belief  that  Argentina  should  cultivate 
closer  relations  with  the  United  States  than  with  any  other 
country.  While  I was  visiting  Montevideo,  however,  he 
made  an  address  at  a public  meeting  in  one  of  the  large  the- 
aters of  Buenos  Aires  protesting  against  the  Government’s 
inviting  the  North  American  fleet.  On  my  return  to  the 
city  we  met  at  his  club  on  the  Avenida  de  Mayo.  As  the 
Latins  do,  we  talked  around  and  about  many  questions  until 


370 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


I finally  said  to  him:  “I  am  soon  returning  to  the  United 
States  and  shall  have  opportunity  of  speaking  to  my  people 
concerning  these  problems  of  friendship  about  which  we 
have  been  talking.  I should  like  to  know  your  final  recom- 
mendations as  to  how  these  may  be  better  cultivated.” 

Quick  as  a flash,  he  turned  to  me  with  an  upraised  hand 
and  said : “Don’t  force  us!  This  matter  of  the  visit  of  your 
fleet  doesn’t  set  well  with  us.  It  seems  that  you  are  forcing 
us  to  take  a position  that  we  are  not  yet  ready  to  take.  I 
believe,  as  your  country  believed  for  a long  time,  that  the 
best  thing  for  Argentina  is  neutrality.  If  your  protests  of 
friendship  and  of  allowing  us  to  shape  our  own  policies  are 
sincere,  then  you  have  no  right  to  force  us  into  a position 
which  really  means  a declaration  of  hostilities.” 

I replied : “I  appreciate  what  you  say  and  cannot  entirely 
answer  it,  for  I do  not  know  the  secrets  of  our  State  De- 
partment. I am  sure,  however,  that  it  has  reasons  for  what 
it  has  done  in  connection  with  the  fleet’s  visit  to  Buenos 
Aires,  if  it  has  suggested  the  visit,  as  you  claim  it  has.  But 
I do  know  the  hearts  of  our  people.  I believe  that  I under- 
stand the  purposes  of  President  Wilson  and  his  Cabinet, 
that  they  are  thoroughly  in  accord  with  the  public  declara- 
tions made  by  the  President  concerning  our  desire  for  friend- 
ship with  Latin  America  and  for  allowing  each  nation  to 
direct  its  own  policies.  At  a time  like  this  is  it  not  neces- 
sary for  us  to  trust  one  another?  Some  day  you  and  I will 
know  what  only  our  governments  now  know.  Then  I am 
sure  that  there  will  be  a satisfactory  explanation.”  Spon- 
taneously he  extended  his  hand  and  exclaimed,  “You  are 
right.  We  will  trust  one  another.” 

This  incident  may  be  said  to  be  typical  both  of  the  fears 
of  the  intelligent  and  cultured  South  Americans  and  of  their 
real  desire  to  cultivate  friendship  with  us.  A careful  ex- 
planation of  our  own  purposes  and  a due  regard  for  our 
neighbors  will  smooth  the  way  every  time  toward  real 
friendship. 

Shirt-sleeve  diplomacy  is  well  illustrated  by  a recent  inci- 
dent in  Panama  in  connection  with  the  acquiring  of  Taboga 
Island  by  the  United  States.  The  United  States  was  de- 
sirous of  placing  fortifications  on  this  island  in  order  to 


NEXT  STEPS  IN  INTER-AMERICAN  FRIENDSHIP  371 


safeguard  the  Panama  Canal  and  quite  suddenly  notified 
Panama  to  release  this  most  prized  possession,  which  her 
nabobs  use  as  a summer  resort.  The  public  in  the  United 
States  would  probably  never  have  known  anything  about 
the  matter  had  it  not  been  that  General  Pershing’s  recent 
visit  to  Panama  gave  the  Panamanians  an  opportunity  to 
stage  a demonstration  against  the  United  States’  seizure 
of  the  island.  Just  about  that  time  also,  Major  Lowther  in 
the  British  House  of  Commons,  in  order  to  plague  his  po- 
litical enemies,  placed  before  the  Under  Secretary  for  For- 
eign Affairs  of  his  government  the  question  as  to  whether 
the  taking  of  this  island  by  the  United  States  might  be  re- 
ferred to  the  League  of  Nations  as  an  infringement  of  the 
rights  of  small  nations. 

Negotiations  for  acquiring  the  island  were  properly  initi- 
ated by  the  State  Department  of  the  United  States  with  the 
Panamanian  Minister  at  Washington.  While  this  was  pend- 
ing in  Washington  it  seems  that  an  under  official  of  the 
American  government  of  the  Canal  Zone  appeared,  with 
more  haste  than  ceremony,  before  the  Alcalde  of  Taboga 
and  announced  the  impending  seizure,  declaring  he  had  been 
sent  by  the  American  authorities  to  make  preliminary  ar- 
rangements for  removing  the  inhabitants.  The  Alcalde  re- 
fused to  recognize  the  American  agent.  Our  War  Depart- 
ment contended  that  the  agent  went  to  Taboga  with  the  con- 
sent of  the  government  of  Panama,  but  the  latter  denied  the 
accuracy  of  that  contention.  The  Panama  Government  had 
understood  from  advices  of  the  Secretary  of  State  that  the 
United  States  Government  would  do  nothing  precipitately 
and  that  no  action  would  be  taken  until  the  negotiations  at 
Washington  had  been  satisfactorily  concluded. 

The  Panamanian  Minister  then  called  the  attention  of 
the  State  Department  to  the  incident  and  described  what  an 
unfortunate  impression  it  had  made.  His  note  presented 
three  requests  from  the  Government  of  Panama : That  the 
amount  of  land  taken  for  fortifications  be  reduced  to  a 
minimum,  that  there  be  no  immediate  expropriation  of  pri- 
vate property  beyond  what  was  absolutely  necessary,  and 
that  the  United  States  leave  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  island 
what  they  need  and  cherish  most — their  water  supply  and 


372 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


their  graveyards.  The  incident  aroused  such  intense  feeling 
in  Panama  that  the  populace  staged  a very  ugly  demonstra- 
tion against  General  Pershing,  their  only  opportunity  for 
bringing  it  to  the  attention  of  the  outside  world.  Whatever 
may  be  the  just  settlement  of  this  matter,  certainly  a proper 
diplomatic  handling  of  the  case  would  have  proved  more 
satisfactory  to  both  sides  than  would  such  a process  as  that 
just  described. 

The  American  officer  may  not  actually  have  gone  in  his 
shirt-sleeves  to  demand  the  island  of  the  Alcalde,  but  he 
gave  the  impression  of  being  rude  and  inconsiderate  of  the 
dignity  of  the  Government  of  Panama  and  its  officials.  His 
dignidad  may  be  the  last  thing  that  a North  American  con- 
siders, but  it  is  the  first  that  a Latin  regards.  He  would 
rather  starve  than  sacrifice  his  dignidad,  individual  or  na- 
tional. If  we  could  only  remember  this  in  dealing  with  him 
we  should  get  many  things  done,  even  disagreeable  ones, 
without  causing  rancor  and  resentment.  Not  long  ago  the 
writer  was  discussing  with  a Latin  American  the  question 
of  how  we  might  legitimately  help  some  of  the  Caribbean 
countries  to  maintain  peace  and  develop  democracy  without 
incurring  their  ill-will.  “T odo  esta  en  'la  forma ” he  replied 
earnestly.  And  indeed  almost  everything  in  Latin  America 
does  often  seem  to  depend  on  the  form.  Certainly  anything 
that  is  just  can  be  carried  out  if  we  are  considerate  of  our 
neighbors’  feelings.  It  would  not  hurt  even  to  cater  a bit 
to  his  pride  and  prejudice,  where  principle  is  not  involved. 
The  North  American  is  often  too  proud  of  this  “brutal 
frankness”  and  his  presentation  of  the  “naked  truth.”  We 
shall  get  along  much  better  with  South  America  when  we 
dress  up  the  truth  in  garments  of  sympathetic  consideration 
and  forget  the  “shirt-sleeves”  method  of  presenting  it. 

A few  months  ago  when  the  Tacna-Arica  question  be- 
tween Chile,  Bolivia  and  Peru  again  became  acute,  our  State 
Department  sent  a note  to  the  countries  concerned  which 
caused  much  unfavorable  comment.  La  Prensa , of  Buenos 
Aires,  referring  to  the  brusk  admonitions  of  the  United 
States  Government,  characterized  them  as  if  from  a tutor 
to  a disorderly  pupil,  and  asked : “What  is  the  cause  of  that 
arrogant  style  of  diplomacy  adopted  by  the  White  House?” 


NEXT  STEPS  IN  INTER-AMERICAN  FRIENDSHIP  373 


El  Mercurio,  of  Chile,  said:  “The  American  Government 
should  now  open  well  its  eyes  and  take  note  of  the  mentality 
of  these  countries,  of  their  present  state,  of  their  degree  of 
progress  and  of  their  self-respect.  It  must  not  be  forgotten 
that  one  of  the  causes  of  Germany’s  ruin  was  the  lack  of 
comprehension  of  other  peoples’  psychology,  under  which 
German  statesmen  have  always  lalxired.  We  hope,  for  the 
sake  of  mutual  expediency,  that  the  Americans  will  show 
themselves  to  be  more  intelligent.”  Even  the  American 
Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Valparaiso  thought  it  necessary 
to  protest  against  the  tone  of  the  note. 

The  bluster,  bravado  and  threatening  of  the  United  States 
Senate’s  Committee  Investigating  Mexican  Affairs  and  their 
unreasonable  demands  on  Mexico  is  the  best  kind  of  an  illus- 
tration of  how  not  to  do  things  if  we  wish  to  have  any  of 
the  persuasive  elements  in  our  diplomacy.  The  public  an- 
nouncement that  this  government  wishes  to  have  appointed 
a joint  commission  to  settle  questions  between  the  two  gov- 
ernments, and  that  Mexico  must  promise  beforehand  to  do 
certain  things,  offers  the  Latin  American  cartoonist  another 
opportunity  of  picturing  Uncle  Sam,  with  a big  stick,  say- 
ing to  little  Mexico,  “Come  now,  quick!  Let’s  make  an 
agreement!  Sign  here!”  Consideration  and  persuasion 
will  get  a good  deal  more  from  Mexico  and  will  make  the 
rest  of  the  world  think  a great  deal  better  of  us.  The  best 
known  cartoon  in  Latin  America  arose  out  of  our  “Dollar 
Diplomacy”  used  in  the  collection  of  the  Alsop  Claim  from 
Chile.  This  cartoon  represents  the  United  States  as  a big, 
fine  gentleman  in  Prince  Albert  coat,  high  hat,  gold-headed 
cane,  and  diamond  stickpin  and  all  the  rest,  saying  to  a poor 
little  chap:  “My  boy,  get  to  thyself  riches — honestly,  if  thou 
canst.  But  by  all  means,  get  to  thyself  riches.” 

When  one  goes  over  the  record  of  our  dealings  with  Latin 
America  and  finds  that  many  times  as  much  and  more  could 
have  been  accomplished  in  a given  matter  by  the  proper 
form  and  proper  consideration  of  Latin  sensitiveness  than 
have  been  gained  by  our  rough  methods,  which  leave  a sting 
and  resentment,  he  appreciates  the  great  place  that  sympathy 
has  in  the  development  of  Pan  Americanism.  It  would  of 
course  be  neither  fair  nor  true  to  say  that  Latin  America  is 


374- 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


so  superficial  as  to  care  for  nothing  but  form.  The  content 
is  of  importance.  And  the  content  of  Pan  Americanism 
must  not  include  North  American  imperialism,  if  it  is  to  be 
accepted  by  the  South. 

Nothing  would  do  more  toward  forwarding  American 
Unity  than  an  authoritative  declaration  by  the  combined 
treaty-making  powers  of  the  United  States  Government 
embracing  the  principles  proposed  by  President  Wilson  for 
a Pan  American  agreement.  These  were  : The  United  States 
and  all  other  nations  of  this  hemisphere  mutually  agree  to 
guarantee  the  territorial  integrity  of  the  countries  of  this 
hemisphere ; all  the  nations  agree  to  maintain  the  republican 
form  of  government ; all  bind  themselves  to  submit  to  set- 
tlement by  diplomacy,  arbitration,  or  investigating  commis- 
sions as  provided  for  by  the  several  treaties  already  rati- 
fied, disputes  of  all  kinds,  including  boundary  troubles,  but 
not  controversies  affecting  the  independence  of  each;  gen- 
eral agreement  whereby  exportation  of  arms  to  any  but  the 
legally  constituted  governments  of  this  hemisphere  will  be 
prohibited;  neutrality  laws  adopted  which  will  make  it  im- 
possible for  filibustering  expeditions  to  threaten  or  carry  on 
revolutions  in  neighboring  republics. 

These  agreements  would  naturally  lead  to  an  extension  of 
the  joint  consideration  of  American  problems  by  various 
American  nations,  as  happened  in  the  mediation  between  the 
United  States  and  Mexico.  The  more  the  United  States  can 
call  on  the  stronger  countries  of  Latin  America  to  help  her 
in  bringing  law  and  order  to  the  unstable  countries,  the 
greater  will  be  the  appreciation  of  the  difficulty  of  the  prob- 
lem of  the  United  States  in  relationships  with  the  disturbed 
Caribbean  countries.  Such  joint  action  would  both  remove 
the  suspicion  of  land-grabbing  and  broaden  the  Monroe  Doc- 
trine to  where  the  whole  Continent  would  feel  responsible 
for  its  maintenance,  thus  eliminating  the  one  objection  to 
the  doctrine  that  it  is  entirely  unilateral. 

SOME  TROUBLESOME  PROBLEMS 

In  order  that  the  Pan  American  drama  may  proceed 
it  is  necessary  to  clear  away  two  imperative  questions.  These 


NEXT  STEPS  IN  INTER-AMERICAN  FRIENDSHIP  375 

are:  Friendly  reciprocity  with  Mexico,  and  just  and  satis- 
factory relationships  with  the  Caribbean  countries. 

The  one  thing  that  would  wipe  out  all  the  advantages  of 
the  present  ■wonderful  opportunity  for  Inter- American 
friendship  is  the  very  thing  that  started  all  of  Latin  Amer- 
ica’s suspicion  of  us  in  the  first  place — war  with  Mexico. 
We  ought  clearly  to  recognize  that  Mexico  is  a part  of  that 
great  Latin  family  and  her  sisters  have  a deep  sympathy 
with  her.  They  do  not  hold  any  false  ideas  as  to  her  per- 
fection or  fail  to  recognize  the  justice  of  the  claims  of  the 
United  States /for  just  treatment  of  her  citizens  and  her 
interests.  Their  impartial  work  in  the  ABC  mediation  be- 
tween Mexico  and  the  United  States  in  1913  proved  that. 
But  they  do  believe  that  the  greatest  nation  in  the  world, 
that  holds  two-thirds  of  the  wealth  of  the  world,  that  claims 
to  have  gone  further  than  any  other  nation  in  the  develop- 
ment of  democracy  and  to  have  fought  a war  for  the  weak 
peoples  of  the  world,  ought  to  be  able  to  find  some  other 
way  of  getting  along  with  a next-door  neighbor,  like  poor 
little,  weak,  revolution-tossed,  exhausted,  starving  Mexico, 
than  by  shooting  it  into  submission  to  our  imperial  will. 
And  rightly  or  wrongly,  no  pious  phrasing  of  our  benevo- 
lent purposes,  and  our  interest  in  Mexico’s  welfare  by  our 
national  congress,  as  we  send  our  armies  to  Mexico,  would 
ever  convince  Latin  America  that  armed  intervention  was 
not  for  the  purpose  of  making  more  sure  our  economic  ex- 
ploitation of  that  unhappy  land. 

Intervention  is  short-sighted  even  as  a commercial  policy, 
for  it  would  cause  us  to  lose  the  trade  of  Latin  America. 
But  many  commercially-minded  people  cannot  see  this.  In 
a recent  book  entitled  “Is  Mexico  Worth  Saving?”,  the  ad- 
vice of  the  author  is  to  deal  with  her  only  by  ultimata.  That 
would  undoubtedly  save  her — from  certain  sins,  at  least — 
for  Mexico’s  greatest  sins  are  oil,  silver,  gold  and  copper. 
As  long  as  Mexico  has  these  sins  certain  interested  evan- 
gelists will  be  deeply  concerned  for  her  salvation.  So  it  is 
necessary  for  the  best  elements  in  this  country  to  stand 
eternally  against  armed  intervention. 

The  United  States  of  America  is  too  big  a nation  to  admit 
that  the  only  way  to  settle  its  difficulties  with  a small,  weak 


376 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


nation  is  by  a war.  Mexico  has  only  one-seventh  the  popu- 
lation of  the  United  States  and  has  not  one-hundredth  part 
of  our  national  wealth  at  the  present  time.  We  have  come 
out  of  the  World  War  as  the  most  powerful  government, 
financially,  in  the  world.  We  have  also  developed  an  ideal- 
ism which  has  said  to  the  world  that  we  will  go  to  any 
lengths  to  help  weaker  nations  that  are  struggling  for  a 
democratic  life.  There  is  no  power  that  human  beings  can 
wield  that  has  not  been  given  into  our  hands.  Christian 
civilization  is  certainly  an  absolute  failure  if  the  United 
States,  with  all  of  its  power,  cannot  find  a way  of  settling 
our  difficulties  with  Mexico  without  war,  and  we  should  not 
allow  ourselves  to  believe  that  intervention  means  anything 
but  war. 

As  for  the  destruction  of  property,  rather  than  go  to  war, 
Admiral  Chadwick  said  several  years  ago:  “Far  better  if 
only  from  a financial  point  of  view,  would  it  be  for  us  to 
buy  up  every  foreign  interest  in  Mexico.” 

One  of  the  ways  to  settle  the  Mexican  question  is  to  do 
away  with  the  propaganda  which  has  poisoned  the  minds  of 
the  American  people  against  the  Mexicans  by  continually 
keeping  before  the  public  not  only  stories  of  atrocities,  but 
the  weaknesses  of  Mexican  leaders,  so  as  to  undermine  en- 
tirely the  faith  of  the  American  people  in  the  Mexicans  and 
their  rulers.  We  allowed  this  propaganda  to  assume  such 
proportions  that  the  Mexican  Minister  in  Washington,  ac- 
cording to  his  own  personal  testimony,  has  often  found 
these  misrepresentations  so  unbearable  that  he  would  go 
into  an  inner  room  and  shut  himself  off  from  all  life  for 
days  at  a time.  All  Mexicans  and  friends  of  Mexico  in  this 
country  have  felt  the  embarrassment  and  the  shame  of  these 
conditions.  We  have  complained  that  the  governors  of 
Mexico  and  the  Mexican  people  have  prejudice  against  the 
United  States,  and  we  have  allowed  the  flames  of  this  preju- 
dice to  be  fanned  by  propaganda  agencies  that  have  had 
nothing  but  selfish  motives  behind  their  work.  The  United 
States  is  big  enough  and  great  enough  and  ought  to  be  Chris- 
tian enough  to  change  entirely  this  whole  situation  and  help 
Mexico  to  restore  her  homes,  to  educate  her  children  and 
to  take  her  rightful  place  in  the  Pan  American  family. 


NEXT  STEPS  IN  INTER-AMERICAN  FRIENDSHIP  377 

As  to  the  Caribbean  countries,  a just  and  clearly  defined 
policy  is  imperative.  For  the  last  several  years  the  United 
States  has  had  a force  of  1,500  marines  in  Haiti,  a like  num- 
ber in  Santo  Domingo  and  a hundred  in  Nicaragua.  In 
Santo  Domingo  we  took  over  the  government  completely 
five  years  ago  and  since  then  the  marines  have  been  the  only 
government.  Whether  or  not  the  seizing  of  that  govern- 
ment was  justified,  the  American  people  will  not  be  content 
to  permanently  hold  another  nation’s  sovereignty  and  per- 
manently rule  that  country  by  martial  law.  The  relations 
with  these  small  Caribbean  countries,  that  have  been  cursed 
with  revolutions  for  a hundred  years,  is  a serious  problem. 
But  it  is  a problem  not  for  some  minor  official  at  Washing- 
ton to  solve,  but  one  for  the  American  people  to  study  and 
about  which  they  should  reach  just  and  wise  conclusions. 

IMPROVED  DIPLOMACY 

There  is  imperative  need  of  improvement  in  our  diplo- 
matic organization  and  personnel.  The  importance  of  hav- 
ing the  best  type  of  men  to  represent  us  in  Latin  America, 
where  there  are  so  many  prejudices  to  overcome  and  so 
many  false  impressions  to  be  eliminated,  cannot  be  overem- 
phasized. The  Southerners  are  individualists  and  hero  wor- 
shipers. They  see  everything  through  the  kind  of  men 
that  present  matters  to  them.  Our  diplomatic  representa- 
tives are  to  them  the  very  embodiment  of  the  United  States. 
We  have  had  and  have  to-day  some  very  fine  men  in  the 
diplomatic  and  consular  service,  men  who  have  by  their  own 
character  and  culture  lifted  high  the  whole  conception  of 
North  America.  It  would  be  difficult  to  estimate  the  wide 
influence  for  good  of  such  men  as  Ambassadors  Morgan  of 
Brazil,  and  Fletcher,  of  Chile.  Unfortunately  we  have  had 
many  of  the  other  kind.  Some  of  them  are  only  provincial 
and  find  it  impossible  to  see  a question  from  any  but  their 
own  narrow  viewpoint.  Others  have  been  tipplers,  immoral 
and  dishonest.  Very  recently  in  one  of  the  Central  Ameri- 
can countries  the  Minister  representing  the  United  States, 
after  years  of  offending,  was  finally  removed  from  office 
because  of  drunkenness.  His  successor,  although  an  old 


378 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


man,  fell  in  love  with  a very  young  native  girl  and  his  con- 
duct with  her  at  motion  picture  theaters  was  so  disgusting 
that  he  was  several  times  hissed  by  the  other  patrons.  He 
likewise  was  finally  removed  from  office.  During  the  World 
War  our  Minister  to  one  of  the  South  American  countries 
got  mixed  up  in  some  questionable  investments,  so  that  at 
his  death  a scandal  was  created  by  a claim  that  this  pro- 
cedure was  only  a hoax  for  him  to  get  out  of  the  country 
and  a demand  made  that  the  casket  be  exhumed  for  investi- 
gation. Another  Minister  is  reported  to  think  so  highly  of 
the  Papal  Nuncio  and  is  so  deferential  to  the  Roman  prelate, 
even  renouncing  first  place  to  him,  that  the  Liberal  ele- 
ment of  the  country  are  very  much  perturbed  by  his  actions. 

It  is  not  an  uncommon  experience  to  find  the  work  of  sub- 
secretaries, clerks  and  even  consuls  carried  on  by  those  who 
with  difficulty  speak  the  English  language.  Many  incidents, 
amusing  afterward,  but  humiliating  to  the  patriotic  North 
American  at  the  time,  take  place,  like  the  one  related  to  the 
writer  in  Rio  de  Janeiro.  It  seemed  that  on  a national  holi- 
day the  American  colony  had  gathered  together  for  a cele- 
bration. The  Ambassador  was  away  so  that  it  fell  to  an 
under  official  to  make  the  address.  It  was  a hot  day  and 
since  the  gentleman  was  fleshy  and  not  over  careful  in  per- 
sonal appearance  he  chose  to  appear  in  negligee  with  no  vest. 
In  his  struggles  with  the  English  language,  as  he  talked  of 
the  great  unity  of  spirit  in  the  United  States,  he  said:  “Gen- 
tlemen, after  de  Civil  Var  in  our  cundry,  ve  were  all  united. 
Dere  was  no  nord,  no  soud,  no  east  and  no  vest,”  accom- 
panying the  last  words  with  an  impressive  gesture  toward 
his  breast.  If  some  have  a struggle  with  the  language  of 
the  country  they  represent,  much  more  numerous  are  those 
who  struggle  heroically  but  hopelessly  with  the  resonant 
Spanish  or  Portuguese.  We  need  real  representatives  of  the 
United  States  in  our  diplomatic  and  consular  posts,  those 
who  speak  the  language  and  think  the  thoughts  of  the  people 
among  whom  they  live  and  typify  in  their  own  personal  lives 
all  that  is  best  in  morality,  sympathy,  culture  and  idealism 
in  the  life  of  their  own  country.  It  is  very  evident  that  in 
order  to  get  such  men  adequate  salaries  and  suitable  resi- 
dences should  be  provided. 


NEXT  STEPS  IN  INTER-AMERICAN  FRIENDSHIP  379 


But  it  is  not  only  in  the  field  that  our  diplomatic  organi- 
zation needs  improvement.  It  needs  it  at  Washington  also. 
With  certain  notable  exceptions,  the  Latin  American  Sec- 
tion of  the  State  Department  has  been  officered  by  men  who 
lack  the  qualifications,  training  and  prestige  for  such  an 
important  position,  men  who  are  inferior  in  culture  and  in 
knowledge  of  international  affairs  to  the  diplomats  from  the 
various  southern  countries  with  whom  they  come  into 
contact. 

With  the  present  organization  of  the  State  Department  it 
too  often  happens  that  irresponsible  clerks  are  left  to  decide 
questions  which,  however  trivial  they  may  appear  to  be  at 
Washington,  have  a far-reaching  effect  in  Latin  America. 
Then,  if  the  Department  of  State  is  to  really  represent  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  there  must  be  some  way  whereby 
the  people  can  more  clearly  follow  what  the  Department  is 
doing  and  express  to  it  their  approval  or  disapproval.  Most 
of  the  governments  of  the  world  are  compelled  to  publish 
to  the  world  the  activities  of  their  Foreign  Relations  De- 
partment. All  of  the  Latin  American  countries  publish 
Memorias  of  the  Department  of  Foreign  Relations,  in  which 
is  given  minute  account  of  all  relations  with  other  countries. 
Great  Britain  and  other  European  nations  have  a way  of 
interpolating  their  Minister  of  Foreign  and  Colonial  Affairs 
at  any  time  questions  arise  concerning  these  matters.  The 
United  States  is  probably  the  only  democratic  government 
in  the  world  where  the  people  have  no  way  of  following  our 
dealings  with  other  nations.  The  Department  of  State  and 
the  Navy  may  control  the  government  of  a little  Caribbean 
country  for  years  and  this  be  the  talk  of  the  rest  of  America 
and  Europe,  without  the  people  of  the  United  States  know- 
ing about  it,  unless  political  rivalries  shall  force  its  discus- 
sion or  bring  about  a congressional  investigation.  The  ac- 
tivities of  the  Department  of  State  and  of  the  Navy,  as  they 
refer  to  the  smaller  neighboring  countries,  where  it  is  so  easy 
for  a great,  powerful  nation  to  assume  a dictatorial  policy, 
should  be  open  and  subject  to  public  judgment  at  all  times. 
The  reforming  of  our  Department  of  Foreign  Relations  to 
insure  open  diplomacy  is  one  of  the  greatest  needs  of  our 
political  organization,  if  what  we  actually  do  in  our  relations 


380 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


with  the  small  nations  under  our  shadow  is  to  be  representa- 
tive of  the  nation  itself. 

BETTER  ACQUAINTANCE  WITH  LATIN  AMERICANS 

We  have  need  of  a more  adequate  appreciation  of  the 
Latin  American  people.  We  must  realize  that  these  peoples 
are  worthy  of  our  friendship.  The  old  attitude  of  depre- 
ciation must  be  done  away  with.  A few  months  ago  some 
American  tourists,  business  men  who  had  been  the  guests 
of  the  Mexican  Government  on  a long  visit  through  the  Re- 
public, from  whom  they  had  received  every  courtesy,  were 
returning  to  the  border.  The  train  reached  New  Laredo, 
on  the  Mexican  side,  about  3.30  in  the  morning.  These  gen- 
tlemen woke  up  and  began  talking,  waking  up  everybody 
else  in  the  car.  Among  the  things  the  cultured  Mexicans 
who  spoke  as  good  English  as  these  Americans,  heard  was 
this : “There  are  two  things  in  this  world  that  I can’t  under- 
stand why  the  Lord  ever  made — mosquitoes  and  Mexicans.” 

Some  time  ago  a university  professor  asked  his  Congress- 
man to  suggest  to  one  of  the  government  officials  that  he 
would  like  an  appointment  as  representative  in  one  of  the 
Pan  American  conferences.  The  government  representative 
said  to  the  Congressman : “Why  in  the  world  does  that  pro- 
fessor want  an  appointment  of  that  kind?  Why  should  he 
want  to  get  mixed  up  with  those  Latin  Americans  ? I can’t 
understand  why  anyone  would  care  to  waste  their  time  with 
them.”  It  is  a well-known  fact  in  Protestant  missionary 
circles  of  the  United  States  that  the  general  impression  has 
been  in  the  past  that  any  kind  of  a person  would  do  to  send 
as  a missionary  to  Latin  America.  People  who  have  not 
had  the  intellectual  and  spiritual  qualifications  to  be  sent  to 
the  Orient  have  at  times  been  sent  to  Mexico  and  South 
America  with  the  thought  that  anything  was  good  enough 
for  those  fields. 

A South  American  Ambassador  in  Washington  said  not 
long  ago,  complaining  of  the  critical  spirit  of  Americans  vis- 
iting his  country:  “You  will  not  find  everything  there  just 
as  you  have  it  in  the  States,  and  you  must  not  expect  more 
than  we  have  for  ourselves.  We  are  very  glad  to  share 


NEXT  STEPS  IN  INTER-AMERICAN  FRIENDSHIP  381 


what  we  have  with  anyone  who  comes  to  us  in  good  faith, 
but  you  should  not  be  too  critical  of  what  we  have  to  offer. 
Our  countries  are  new  countries,  and  we  welcome  your  in- 
terest in  their  development,  but  we  don’t  like  to  be  told  that 
we  are  backward  and  slow.  If  you  don’t  like  our  hospitality 
you  should  stay  at  home.”  That  is  a rather  general  com- 
plaint against  North  Americans  who  visit  South  America 
for  the  first  time.  The  traveler  usually  knows  very  little 
Spanish,  and  he  is  apt  to  be  annoyed  because  all  the  nations 
do  not  speak  his  language.  If  he  is  very  provincial  in  his 
point  of  view  he  is  likely  to  conclude  that  everything  is  done 
wrongly,  because  it  is  not  done  in  the  way  he  is  used  to  at 
home,  and  often  loudly  complains  against  the  country  and 
the  people.  Some  North  Americans  who  have  resided  many 
years  in  South  America  see  none  of  the  good  traits  of  the 
people,  none  of  the  wonderful  public  and  private  charities 
conducted  by  them,  nothing  of  the  beautiful  spirit  of  refine- 
ment and  culture  that  captivates  the  open-minded.  One 
finds  at  times  North  Americans  in  the  cities  who  spend  their 
free  time  maligning  the  good  people  of  that  city,  and  putting 
wrong  impressions  into  the  heads  of  tourists  who  come  to 
them  for  an  appreciation  of  the  country. 

Unfortunately  this  attitude  has  been  of  long  standing  and 
assumed  by  some  of  our  most  prominent  men.  In  a con- 
fidential letter  from  the  United  States  representative  to  Cen- 
tral America  in  1850,  Mr.  Squier  said:  “You  cannot  imagine 
my  astonishment  on  hearing  Mr.  Webster  speak  not  only 
slightingly  but  contemptuously  of  all  that  had  been  done  in 
Central  America.  He  said  he  could  not  discover  why  we 
should  trouble  ourselves  about  ‘these  insignificant  countries, 
or  go  through  the  farce  of  treating  with  them  at  all.’  I 
urged  the  vast  resources  of  the  country,  the  importance  of 
the  present  and  prospective  trade  with  California  and  Ore- 
gon, in  short,  touched  upon  the  various  points  with  which 
you  are  familiar.  To  all  of  this  there  was  but  one  reply: 
that  when  this  importance  became  manifest  and  stable  gov- 
ernments were  established,  it  would  be  time  enough  to  pay 
attention  to  them.” 

These  few  incidents  show  the  change  of  attitude  that  must 
come  in  this  country  if  we  are  to  have  a real  friendship 


382 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


with  Latin  America.  We  must  realize  that  in  Latin  America 
there  is  a cultured  class  equal  to  any  in  the  world.  We  must 
realize  that  they  have  produced  some  of  history’s  greatest 
men.  Victor  Hugo  once  wrote  to  Juarez,  the  Mexican  presi- 
dent : “America  has  produced  two  great  men,  Abraham  Lin- 
coln and  thee.”  This  was  no  mere  compliment,  for  anyone 
who  has  studied  the  life  of  Juarez  will  appreciate  the  reason 
for  coupling  him  with  Lincoln.  Our  own  Secretary  of  State, 
Seward,  after  he  had  met  Juarez,  said  that  he  had  never 
seen  a greater  man.  When  some  of  his  friends  reminded 
him  that  he  had  seen  many  great  men  and  should  be  careful 
in  making  such  a statement,  he  reaffirmed  it. 

In  brilliancy  itself  the  great  Bolivar  exceeded  our  own 
Washington.  In  devotion  to  liberty  San  Martin,  the  great 
liberator,  was  his  equal.  There  is  no  finer  exanple  of  un- 
selfishness in  all  the  world  than  San  Martin,  liter  having 
become  the  victor  in  Argentina,  Chile  and  Peru,  quietly  re- 
nouncing all  his  titles  and  honors  and  retiring  to  Europe 
to  avoid  difficulties  which  his  presence  might  have  caused. 
The  following  from  his  farewell  address  shows  something 
of  the  spirit  of  the  man : 

“I  have  witnessed  the  declaration  of  the  independence  of 
the  states  of  Chile  and  Peru.  I hold  in  my  hand  the  standard 
which  Pizarro  used  to  enslave  the  empire  of  the  Incas.  My 
promises  to  the  countries  for  which  I fought  are  fulfilled : 
to  secure  their  independence  and  leave  them  to  select  their 
own  governments.  The  presence  of  a fortunate  soldier, 
however  disinterested  he  may  be,  is  dangerous  to  newly 
established  states.  Then,  too,  I am  weary  of  hearing  people 
say  that  I wish  to  make  myself  a monarch.  Nevertheless  I 
shall  always  be  ready  to  make  the  last  sacrifice  for  the  lib- 
erty of  this  country,  but  only  in  the  capacity  of  a private 
citizen.  With  regard  to  my  public  conduct,  my  compatriots, 
as  in  most  affairs,  will  be  divided  in  opinion.  Their  chil- 
dren will  give  a just  verdict.” 

NEW  USES  OF  THE  TROPICS 

Probably  one  of  the  greatest  reasons  for  the  average 
man’s  depreciation  of  Latin  America  is  the  fallacy  pretty 


NEXT  STEPS  IN  INTER-AMERICAN  FRIENDSHIP  383 


universally  accepted  by  Anglo-Saxons  that  the  great  sec- 
tion of  the  earth  which  we  know  as  “the  tropics”  is  forever 
condemned  on  account  of  climatic  conditions,  as  a field  for 
great  and  progressive  enterprises.  Evidences  of  decadence 
and  lack  of  enterprise  are  met  by  modern  folk  with  a shrug 
of  the  shoulder  and  the  remark,  “What  do  you  expect?  It 
is  in  the  tropics.”  We  forget  that  the  civilization  of  the 
world  was  cradled  in  these  hot  lands,  from  which  it  spread 
to  the  barbarians  of  the  north  and  south. 

In  these  latter  days,  spurred  on  by  the  world-wide  search 
for  food  to  sustain  our  armies,  we  have  turned  again  to 
this  great  belt  of  fertility  and  are  beginning  to  undertake  its 
development.  This  will  be  one  of  the  important  results  of 
the  World  War. 

The  two  great  hindrances  to  tropical  development  have 
been  lack  of  animal  power  for  cultivating  the  soil  and  lack 
of  animal  transportation.  The  necessities  of  war  have  per- 
fected the  development  of  mechanical  means  of  supplying 
these  deficiencies — the  automobile  and  the  farm  tractor.  As 
a more  rapid  means  of  light  transportation,  the  airplane  has 
appeared  upon  the  scene.  The  tropical  jungle  need  not  open 
to  make  a highway  for  it  and  the  mountains  need  not  bow 
to  give  it  passage.  Its  road  is  always  smooth  and  always 
straight. 

The  passenger  automobile  and  the  motor  truck  have 
gained  a new  prestige  during  the  war.  The  theory  that 
roads  of  high  quality  were  necessary  to  the  operation  of 
motor  transport  has  been  effectively  exploded  by  the  achieve- 
ments of  power  vehicles  in  operating  in  practically  road- 
less territory  with  the  armies. 

The  farm  tractor  has  reached  the  point  where  we  can  say 
with  confidence  that  it  can  be  adapted  to  agricultural  con- 
ditions anywhere  in  the  world  and  perform  with  credit. 
Farm  tractors  are  now  being  used  in  Peru  which  perform 
with  one  man  and  fifteen  gallons  of  gasoline  the  day’s  work 
formerly  done  by  fifteen  men  and  fifteen  yoke  of  oxen. 

As  important  as  the  development  of  machinery  has  been 
the  wonderful  conquering  of  tropical  diseases  and  develop- 
ment of  sanitation,  which  has  resulted  in  the  elimination  of 
yellow  fever  and  other  diseases  which  formerly  made  the 


38i  PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 

hot  climates  dangerous.  With  the  stories  of  Cuba  and  Pan- 
ama and  Rio  de  Janeiro  and  just  recently  Guayaquil,  we 
can  confidently  eliminate  health  risks  as  one  of  the  draw- 
backs of  the  tropics.  It  is  most  important  that  we  have 
done  with  all  of  these  preachments  like  that  of  Power’s 
“America  Among  the  Nations,”  which  base  their  imperial- 
istic assumptions  on  the  eternal  weakness  of  all  that  is  re- 
lated to  the  tropics. 

IMPORTANCE  OF  AMERICAN  SOLIDARITY 

We  need  to  have  a clear  understanding  of  the  importance 
of  American  solidarity,  both  for  our  own  safety  and  for  the 
peace  of  the  world.  The  Hon.  Santiago  Perez  Triana  of 
Colombia  has  well  said: 

“Law  and  order  have  found  their  refuge  in  America. 
We  are  the  trustees  of  the  liberty  of  the  world  and  the 
guardians  of  the  future.  Let  us  do  our  duty.  Not  only  the 
United  States,  as  was  once  said  by  lips  hallowed  by  martyr- 
dom, were  conceived  in  liberty  and  dedicated  to  freedom; 
that  is  the  glorious  heritage  of  all  nations  of  America.  What- 
ever tends  to  unite  these  nations  in  common  bonds  of  friend- 
ship, of  common  interest  or  sympathy;  whatever  tends  to 
strengthen  their  solidarity  is  a work  not  only  for  the  peace 
of  America  but  for  the  peace  of  the  world.” 

The  former  Argentine  Ambassador,  Dr.  Naon,  has 
clearly  stated  the  matter  as  follows ; 

“Pan  Americanism  can  never  exist  with  the  idea  of  privi- 
leges in  the  discussion  of  general  destinies  on  the  part  of  the 
stronger  or  more  populous  nations  and  in  detriment  of  the 
principle  of  equality  on  the  part  of  the  weaker  nations.  On 
the  other  hand,  apart  from  Pan  Americanism  as  the  system 
of  international  organization  for  America,  the  political  in- 
fluence of  the  United  States  will  have  become  crippled,  while 
that  of  the  other  nations  of  America  will  have  been  reduced 
almost  to  the  vanishing  point.  The  union  of  this  continent, 
■which  is,  in  my  opinion,  the  essential  concern  of  all  the 
American  nations,  can  be  achieved  only  by  the  consolida- 


NEXT  STEPS  IN  INTER-AMERICAN  FRIENDSHIP  385 


tion  of  Pan  Americanism,  which  presupposes  the  inevitable 
prevalence  of  the  principle  of  equality  in  deliberations  that 
are  of  general  interest,  as  imposed  by  right,  by  justice  and 
by  the  exigencies  of  reciprocal  co-operation  in  the  mainte- 
nance of  their  international  relations. 

“Neither  in  the  councils  of  the  world  nor  in  the  consid- 
eration of  the  governments  of  the  great  powers  do  the  na- 
tions of  America  enjoy  either  the  moral  respect  that  ren- 
ders their  sovereignty  unassailable  or  the  social  considera- 
tion that  imparts  fecundity  to  the  life  of  relation  among 
peoples.  These  conditions  have  persisted  now  for  a century 
and  they  constitute  the  fundamental  problem  of  the  conti- 
nent, for  us  even  more  fundamental  than  all  the  problems 
that  are  to-day  being  discussed  at  the  peace  conference.  The 
United  States,  as  an  integral  part  of  the  continent,  and  as 
the  most  conspicuous  exponent  of  its  capacities,  is  affected 
by  these  continental  conditions  as  much  as  any  other  of  the 
American  nations  can  be. 

“As  long  as  the  countries  of  the  continent  are  kept  in  these 
conditions  of  inferiority  in  world  politics,  there  will  con- 
tinue to  exist  for  the  United  States  the  causes  that  gave 
rise  to  the  Monroe  Doctrine  and  consequently  all  its  ob- 
jections will  also  continue  to  exist.  The  United  States  is 
therefore  interested  in  having  these  conditions  disappear, 
for  reasons  that  concern  her  own  preservation  and  her  own 
security;  and  until  they  shall  have  vanished,  her  political 
influence  in  the  world,  her  weight  in  international  councils, 
will  be  relatively  much  more  apparent  than  real. 

“Hence  my  unalterable  conviction  that  there  is  no  political 
interest  more  essential  to  the  United  States  than  the  con- 
solidation of  the  Pan  American  idea  as  an  element  sine  qua 
non  of  her  international  policy.” 

The  following  testimony  of  the  importance  of  Pan  Amer- 
icanism, coming  from  France,  the  guardian  of  Pan  Latin- 
ism,  is  still  more  significant.  A.  Demangeon  in  his  book, 
“America  and  the  Race  for  World  Dominion,”  just  off  the 
press,  says- 


“Pan  Americanism  is  a doctrine  of  material  interests  and 


386 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


of  sentimental  affiliations.  It  means  that  there  is  an  Amer- 
ican civilization  henceforth  independent  of  European  civ- 
ilization; an  American  society  free  from  the  prejudices,  the 
castes,  and  the  hatreds  of  European  society;  an  American 
policy  that  should  be  liberated  from  the  ambitions  and  the 
traditions  of  European  policy;  and  an  American  economy 
rich  and  pliant  enough  to  be  no  longer  the  slave  of  Euro- 
pean economy.  This  doctrine,  adopted  by  the  young  nations 
of  America,  urges  them  to  unite  from  one  end  of  the  conti- 
nent to  the  other  in  order  to  coordinate  their  interests  and 
cultivate  mutual  esteem.  It  works  for  the  building  of  an 
American  federation  that  will  bring  about  practical,  political 
and  material  unity.  Pan  Americanism  is  no  longer  merely 
a doctrine,  a symbol.  The  foundations  have  already  been 
laid  for  a systematic  organization.” 

More  than  a decade  ago  President  Roosevelt  showed  the 
right  attitude,  when,  at  the  laying  of  the  cornerstone  of  the 
Pan  American  Union  Building,  he  said:  “I  greet  the  rep- 
resentatives of  all  our  sister  republics  to  the  South  of  us. 
In  a sense  you  are  our  elder  sisters  and  we  the  younger  peo- 
ple, for  you  represent  a more  ancient  civilization  on  this  con- 
tinent than  we  do.  Your  fathers,  the  Spanish  and  Portu- 
guese explorers,  conquerors,  law-givers  and  commonwealth 
builders,  had  founded  a civilization  in  the  tropics  and  South 
Temperate  Zone  while  all  north  of  Rio  Grande  was  still  an 
unmapped  wilderness.  * * * For  centuries  our  several  civi- 
lizations grew  each  in  its  own  way,  but  each  sundered  from 
the  others.  Now  we  are  growing  together.  More  and  more 
in  the  future  we  shall  each  give  to  and  get  from  the  others, 
not  merely  things  of  material  value,  but  things  that  are  of 
worth  for  the  intellect  and  spiritual  welfare  of  all  of  us.  In 
the  century  that  has  passed  the  development  of  North  Amer- 
ica has  proceeded  faster,  on  the  whole,  than  that  of  South 
America,  but  in  the  century  that  has  now  opened  I believe 
that  no  other  part  of  the  world  will  see  such  extraordinary 
development  in  wealth,  population  and  all  that  makes  for 
progress,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  Northern  boundary  of 
Mexico  throughout  all  Central  and  South  America.” 

The  importance  of  the  United  States’  seizing  the  present 


NEXT  STEPS  IN  INTER-AMERICAN  FRIENDSHIP  387 


propitious  time  for  a vital  unity  of  all  America  is  pointed 
out  by  Dr.  Rafael  Urtecho  as  follows : 

“Inasmuch  as  the  ties  of  the  United  States  with  the 
American  states  are  of  a permanent  and  not  a transitory  or 
accidental  interest,  as  are  those  that  unite  her  with  the  na- 
tions of  Europe,  it  may  well  be  said  that  one  of  the  advan- 
tages— the  greatest  of  them,  perhaps — which  the  United 
States  has  secured  through  the  war  that  has  just  concluded, 
and  in  which  she  took  so  important  a part,  is  to  be  found  in 
the  new  attitude  of  the  Latin-American  peoples,  in  whom 
has  been  awakened  a sentiment  of  admiration  for  and  sym- 
pathy with  the  United  States : a sentiment  that  was  greatly 
needed  to  give  life  and  strength  to  the  Pan  American  doc- 
trine. 

“Reciprocal  prejudices  growing  out  of  a lack  of  under- 
standing between  the  two  peoples — their  languages,  their 
customs,  their  character  and  their  virtues — caused  the  na- 
tions of  the  New  World  to  regard  each  other  with  suspicion 
and  distrust;  and  so,  in  the  hour  of  the  great  universal  con- 
flict, the  Hispanic  nations  adopted  divergent  courses  and 
thus  revealed  to  the  world  a want  of  efficacy  in  the  Pan 
American  doctrine,  destined,  however,  to  prevail  and  to  be 
adopted  as  the  natural  orientation  of  these  countries  in  their 
desire  for  progress  and  well-being. 

Fortunately,  by  the  course  of  events,  the  veil  that  cov- 
ered our  eyes  has  now  fallen,  and  we  are  enabled  to  see  in 
the  great  collective  soul  of  the  North  American  nation  a 
vivid  flash  of  noble  and  generous  ideals : that  not  always  are 
her  purposes  materialistic  and  sordid ; that  it  is  not — as  has 
been  believed — an  oligarchy  of  capital  or,  rather,  a plutoc- 
racy, prouder,  perhaps,  than  an  aristocracy  of  blood,  that 
dominates  her  counsels,  but  her  loftiest  intelligences  and  the 
rectitude  and  moral  superiority  of  her  great  men,  always  at 
strife  with  the  high-handed  and  absorptive  tendencies  of 
capital. 

“It  is  now  highly  important  that  the  prejudices  which  the 
United  States  may  entertain  regarding  these  countries 
should  disappear,  and  to  this  end  it  is  necessary  that  she 
know  us  better  and  become  convinced  that  in  the  depth  of 


388 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


the  Hispanic  mind  and  soul  there  exists  the  germ  of  all 
greatness  and  all  superiority — this  germ  only  needing  proper 
cultivation  for  its  development;  that,  at  all  events,  we  are 
the  descendants  of  that  heroic  race  which  at  one  time  held 
the  empire  of  the  seas  and  of  the  land : a valiant,  proud, 
haughty  race,  full  of  gravity  and  a very  highly  developed 
sense  of  honor;  for,  although  in  the  melting-pot  of  the 
American  race  we  mingled,  unfortunately  with  inferior 
races,  there  always  remained  in  the  blood  the  germs  of  the 
primitive  race. 

“It  is  necessary  that  the  United  States  know  our  lan- 
guage, our  history,  our  literature,  and,  above  all,  that  the 
North  American  people,  in  contact  with  ours,  try  to  show 
more  tolerance  and  more  adaptability  in  respect  of  our  cus- 
toms and  social  environment.” 

URGENCY  OF  A BETTER  INTER-AMERICAN  UNDERSTANDING 

We  need  to  create  on  this  continent  what  a great  teacher 
has  defined  as  “An  atmosphere  in  which  we  loathe  to  differ 
and  determine  to  understand.”  Let  us  frankly  realize  the 
distinctive  differences  between  cold-blooded,  truth-seeking, 
organizing,  practical  Anglo-Saxons,  and  warm-blooded,  fa- 
vor-dispensing, theoretical,  idealistic  Latins,  appreciating 
the  importance  of  all  these  characteristics. 

North  Americans  often  have  little  sympathy  for  Latin 
Americans  because  they  have  never  taken  into  account  the 
fundamental  truth  expressed  in  the  following  words  of 
President  Roca  of  Argentina : 

“The  genii  that  surrounded  the  cradle  of  Washington 
were  not  the  same  as  presided  at  the  advent  of  the  South 
American  democracies.  The  proud  conquerors  of  iron  mail 
who  trod  this  part  of  America  with  rare  notions  of  liberty 
and  right,  with  absolute  faith  in  the  effect  of  brute  force  and 
violence,  were  very  different  from  those  Puritans  who  dis- 
embarked at  Plymouth  with  no  arms  but  the  Gospel,  no 
other  ambition  than  that  of  founding  a new  community  un- 
der the  law  of  love  and  equality.  Hence  the  Latin  republics 
stand  in  need  of  a greater  amount  of  perseverance,  judgment 


NEXT  STEPS  IN  INTER-AMERICAN  FRIENDSHIP  389 


and  energy  to  work  out  their  original  sin  and  to  assume 
those  virtues  which  they  did  not  inherit.” 

Rear  Admiral  Chadwick  clearly  points  out  the  mistake 
of  the  people  of  the  United  States  in  this  regard  in  the  fol- 
lowing words : 

“It  is  this  lack  of  understanding  of  what  race  character 
means  that  causes  our  trouble.  It  is  a study  of  temperament, 
disposition,  outlook  on  life,  a study,  in  a word,  of  all  that 
goes  to  make  up  character  that  we  need  for  successful  deal- 
ing with  races  so  essentially  different  from  our  own.  In 
such  study  is  the  crux  of  every  international  problem  or  of 
any  other  problem  concerned  with  the  conduct  of  men.  We 
have  certainly  ignored  this,  at  least  as  far  as  Latin  America 
is  concerned,  almost  in  toto.  It  is  time  we  were  taking  an- 
other course  and  knowing  the  soul  of  other  peoples.” 

Some  will  think  that  this  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  prac- 
tical things  of  life.  But  that  is  just  exactly  their  mistake. 
It  is  the  most  important  part  of  foreign  commerce.  The 
tragedy  of  our  failure  to  understand  Latin  America  is  just 
now  being  brought  home  to  us  in  the  frightful  way  we  are 
losing  the  trade  of  those  countries,  which  was  delivered  into 
our  hands  during  the  war.  While  it  is  too  early  to  make 
categorical  statements  about  final  trade  results,  the  plain 
truth  is  that  we  have  made  a terrible  botch  of  the  way  we 
have  handled  this  trade.  There  are  excuses  for  some  fail- 
ures to  fill  orders  and  there  are  honorable  exceptions  to  the 
general  failure,  but  there  is  no  getting  around  the  fact  that 
because  we  refused  to  adapt  ourselves  to  our  customers’  de- 
sires and  have  insisted  on  our  own  way  of  doing  business, 
the  merchants  of  every  country  in  South  America  are  up 
in  arms  against  North  American  business  methods.  One  of 
the  biggest  business  men  in  Peru  has  just  declared  to  me,  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  he  is  an  ardent  admirer  of  this  coun- 
try, that  he  is  through  with  American  firms. 

His  argument  is  about  like  this : “If  I buy  a machine  from 
England  or  Germany  they  install  it  on  my  place,  set  it  run- 
ning and  call  me  to  see  it.  Then  I am  ready  to  pay  the  bill, 


390 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


with  all  the  extras.  But  the  North  American  sends  me  the 
machine,  which  I must  set  up.  It  does  not  do  the  work. 
Then  I myself  have  to  send  to  the  United  States  for  an  ex- 
pert to  put  it  in  running  order.  Or  I order  a tractor,  and 
pay  for  it,  as  required,  in  advance.  It  comes  all  smashed 
to  pieces.  The  company  gives  me  the  insurance  receipt  and 
tells  me  to  collect  the  money.  I do  not  want  the  money,  I 
want  the  tractor ; and  I want  a firm  to  stay  by  my  order  until 
it  is  filled  and  the  machine  is  running  properly.  This  costs 
the  firm  extra,  of  course,  but  I am  willing  to  pay  a few  hun- 
dred or  a few  thousand  dollars  extra.  Then,  if  I need  a 
machine  to  do  certain  work.  I want  to  be  able  to  get  that 
machine  by  telling  the  manufacturer  or  his  agent  what  I 
need  and  leaving  them  to  figure  out  precise  size  and  type  of 
apparatus  required,  sending  a technical  man  to  my  place  if 
necessary.  The  English  or  the  German  firm  will  take  the 
whole  matter  in  hand  and  see  it  through.  But  the  North 
American  wants  to  deal  with  me  as  though  Peru  had  at  its 
beck  and  call  all  the  facilities  of  an  Illinois  center.  And  to 
save  our  lives  we  can’t  get  him  to  look  at  our  situation  as 
we  see  it  instead  of  as  he  thinks  it  ought  to  be.” 

I repeat  that  it  is  a real  tragedy  to  see  how  the  North 
American  business  man,  in  failing  to  read  Latin  American 
psychology,  has  created  recently  so  much  opposition  in  com- 
mercial circles. 

There  can  be  no  true  American  solidarity  until  the  va- 
rious peoples  really  know  each  other — understand  each  oth- 
er’s point  of  view,  habits  of  thought,  literature  and  life. 
And  if  we  do  succeed  in  capturing  Latin  American  trade, 
we  must  not  be  satisfied  with  that.  There  was  a time  when 
England  practically  controlled  the  trade  of  South  America 
and  yet  exercised  no  appreciable  intellectual  influence  there. 
On  the  other  hand,  France,  with  but  little  commercial  rela- 
tionship, has  exerted  a powerful  dominion  over  the  thought 
and  action  of  the  people  of  Latin  America.  Germany,  in 
attaining  her  commercial  supremacy,  sought  to  build  for  the 
future,  sent  teachers  to  reorganize  the  lower  and  high  schools 
of  these  countries  and  in  many  ways  strove  to  place  her 
best  intellectual  forces  at  their  disposal. 

We  must  work  actively  for  intellectual  and  spiritual  in- 


NEXT  STEPS  IN  INTER-AMERICAN  FRIENDSHIP  391 


tercourse.  We  are  ill  prepared,  however,  to  meet  the  de- 
mands of  the  present  situation.  With  good  will  and  an  hon- 
est desire  to  co-operate,  we  hardly  know  how  because  of 
lack  of  acquaintance  with  one  another.  Our  acquaintance- 
ship must  be  systematically  promoted  and  American  inge- 
nuity must  find  a way  to  transfer  the  very  general  desire  for 
good  relationships  into  actual  practice. 

We  have  held  international  congresses  during  the  years 
with  splendid  results  but  they  are  necessarily  superficial; 
they  partake  too  much  of  the  nature  of  parade  to  afford 
opportunity  for  that  tranquil  and  extended  interpenetration 
of  spirit  which  is  essential  to  intellectual  comprehension 
and  social  intimacy.  Knowledge  of  history,  of  the  road 
by  which  peoples  have  reached  their  present  state,  of 
national  heroes,  ideals  and  aspirations,  of  literature,  art,  the 
progress  of  the  sciences,  and  of  education,  is  what  is  needed 
before  there  can  be  any  co-operation  between  peoples. 

Our  southern  neighbors  know  us  better  than  we  know 
them.  The  names  of  Washington,  Clay,  Lincoln,  Poe,  Whit- 
man, Longfellow,  Emerson,  Mark  Twain,  Cooper,  Irving, 
and  Edison  are  as  familiar  to  them  as  those  of  their  own 
equally  great  Bolivar  San  Martin,  Sucre,  Hidalgo,  Bello, 
Heredia,  Ricardo  Palma,  Ruben  Dario,  and  Oswaldo  Cruz. 
In  respect  to  international  knowledge,  our  neighbors  have 
outdistanced  us;  for  they  not  only  know  Europe  as  well  as 
we  do,  but  they  also  know  us  much  better  than  we  know 
them. 

Senor  Nebuco,  Brazilian  Ambassador  to  the  United 
States,  has  put  the  matter  of  American  friendship  very 
beautifully  in  the  following  words : 

“Much  as  the  future  generations  will  wonder  at  the  prog- 
ress of  our  time  they  will  wonder  still  more  that  the  two 
great  sections  of  our  continent  did  remain  so  late  in  his- 
tory almost  unknown  to  each  other.  One  reason  of  their 
isolation  was  that  many  spirits  in  Latin  America  were  for 
a long  time  afraid  of  a too  close  contact  with  you,  owing 
to  the  great  difference  of  power  between  this  and  every  other 
American  nation.  On  its  side  the  United  States,  being  a 
world  by  itself,  and  a world  growing  faster  each  day,  has 


392 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


always  opposed  to  any  such  movements  the  strongest  of  all 
possible  resistance,  that  of  indifference.  Fortunately  a new 
cry  begins  already  to  resound  everywhere.  Suspicion  is 
being  replaced  by  confidence,  and,  if  the  universities  take  in 
hand  the  policy  of  Secretary  Root,  indifference,  in  its  turn, 
will  give  way  to  the  feeling  of  continental  kinship. 

* * * The  only  certain  effect  I can  see  of  a permanent 
and  intimate  intercourse  of  Latin  America  w’th  you  is  that 
it  would  be  slowly  Americanized;  that  it  would  be,  in  differ- 
ent measures,  penetrated  with  your  optimism,  your  self-reli- 
ance and  your  energy.  It  would  be  a treatment  by  elec- 
trictly.  I do  not  mean  that  we  would  ever  attain  your  speed. 
Nor  do  we  wish  it.  You  have  broken  the  record  of  human 
activity  without  breaking  the  rhythm  of  life.  You  have 
made  a new  rhythm  for  yourselves.  We  could  never  do  that. 
For  the  Latin  races  festina  lente  is  the  rule  of  health  and 
stability.  And  let  me  say  it  is  good  for  mankind  that  all  its 
races  do  not  go  at  the  same  step,  that  they  do  not  all  run. 
The  reign  of  science  has  not  yet  begun,  and  only  in  the  age 
of  science  might  mankind  attain  to  uniformity  without  be- 
ginning at  once  to  decay.  Dignity  of  life,  culture,  happi- 
ness, freedom,  may  be  enjoyed  by  nations  moving  slowly, 
provided  they  move  steadily  forward.” 

Because  the  problem  is  so  much  of  an  intellectual  one,  Dr. 
Ernesto  Quesada,  of  the  University  of  Buenos  Aires,  sug- 
gests that  it  is  a matter  in  which  the  universities  should 
lead.  He  says : 

“I  have  always  believed  that  true  Pan  Americanism 
ought  to  be  cemented  by  intellectual,  rather  than  by  political 
or  commercial  interests.  This  intellectual  getting  together, 
besides  trips  for  study,  is  accomplished  by  the  periodical 
assembling  of  congresses  intended  to  bring  into  contact  men 
of  different  countries,  to  make  closer  the  relations  among 
them  and  to  make  known  among  them  their  respective  points 
of  view. 

“Unquestionably  this  is  the  most  desirable  result  of  such 
meetings,  but  it  is  a slow-working  means  to  an  end,  one 
that  requires  many  years  to  make  its  effects  felt.  Moreover, 


NEXT  STEPS  IN  INTER-AMERICAN  FRIENDSHIP  393 


such  conventions  are  usually  made  up  of  persons  of  ad- 
vanced years  whose  opinions  have  long  been  formed,  so 
that  but  few  can  be  easily  convinced.  These  conditions  do 
not  exist  with  respect  to  youth.  When  the  universities 
shall  undertake  the  propagation  of  a Pan  American  doc- 
trine, the  new  generation  will  be  readily  convinced  of  its 
advantages,  and  will  become  its  most  effective  herald. 

“The  University  chair  is,  then,  the  most  fitting  platform 
upon  which  to  maintain  Pan  Americanism.  From  this  it 
will  spread  effectively  to  the  secondary  schools  and  later 
to  the  primary  institutions.  Soon  even  a child  would  be- 
come susceptible  to  its  influences  and  in  the  space  of  one 
generation  public  opinion  would  become  so  favorably  in- 
clined to  the  doctrine  that  international  politics  itself  in 
America  would  be  forced  to  follow  the  current.” 

VALUE  OF  EDUCATIONAL  INTERCHANGES 

The  effectiveness  of  the  universities  in  such  a program 
as  is  visioned  by  Dr.  Quesada  must  have  its  foundation  in  a 
better  understanding  among  the  universities  themselves.  A 
beginning  has  been  made  along  these  lines  by  a tentative 
agreement  between  several  prominent  North  American  uni- 
versities and  the  National  University  of  La  Plata,  the  Na- 
tional University  of  Chile  and  the  University  of  San  Marcos 
of  Lima.  The  main  points  of  this  plan,  held  in  abeyance 
during  the  war,  may  be  outlined  as  follows : 

1.  To  arrange  for  exchange  of  publications. 

2.  The  establishment  of  a scientific  bureau,  which  shall 
facilitate  research,  compile  statistics  and  codify  the  results 
of  scientific  studies,  bring  together  scientists  engaged  in 
research  along  the  same  lines,  furnish  information  regarding 
methods  of  instruction  and  arrangement  of  courses,  and,  in 
general,  make  itself  useful  in  putting  at  the  disposal  of  the 
universities  of  both  continents  the  scientic  resources  of 
them  all. 

3.  The  creation  of  a “Foreign  Students’  Information 
Bureau,”  which  will  furnish  information  concerning  uni- 
versity life  to  interested  students  of  any  country  and  help 


394 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


such  students  upon  their  arrival  at  a foreign  institution  to 
adjust  themselves  to  strange  conditions. 

4.  The  study  of  the  development  of  political  institutions 
in  all  the  American  republics  in  order  to  gain  an  insight  into 
political  development  in  any  one  of  them,  this  material  to 
be  included  in  courses  on  comparative  legislation,  adminis- 
trative law,  sociology  and  political  economy. 

THE  EXCHANGE  OF  PROFESSORS  AND  STUDENTS 

A beginning  has  been  made  in  the  matter  of  exchange 
of  professorships.  One  inaugurated  between  the  University 
of  Washington  and  the  University  of  Chile  has  had  most 
encouraging  results.  Another  arrangement  between  the 
University  of  Chile  and  the  University  of  California  has 
been  put  into  effect  and  the  latter  institution  sent  the  well- 
known  historian,  Dr.  Charles  E.  Chapman,  as  its  first  ex- 
change professor. 

The  question  of  the  exchange  of  students  is  also  making 
headway.  In  Brazil  the  National  Congress  recently  passed 
a law  providing  not  only  for  sending  a large  number  of  stu- 
dents to  this  country,  but  also  providing  six  scholarships  for 
North  American  young  people  and  also  voted  to  endow  a 
chair  of  Brazilian  history  in  George  Washington  University. 
The  recent  visit  of  Prof.  Belaunde  of  the  University  of  San 
Marcos  to  the  United  States  has  done  great  good.  The 
Rector  of  the  National  University  of  Mexico,  as  a result  of 
a visit  of  the  President  of  the  University  of  Arizona  to 
Mexico  recently  made  a trip  to  the  western  part  of  the 
United  States  upon  the  invitation  of  the  Universities  of 
Texas,  Arizona  and  California,  and  arranged  intellectual 
exchange  between  these  institutions  and  the  University  of 
Mexico.  The  North  American  Chamber  of  Commerce  in 
Mexico  has  recently  promoted  a vigorous  movement  to  send 
Mexican  students  to  the  United  States  and  within  a few 
months  has  arranged  for  some  fifty  scholarships.  Col- 
leges of  the  United  States  will  reciprocate  by  sending  stu- 
dents to  the  University  of  Mexico.  A movement  which  has 
been  started  to  create  scholarships  for  North  American 
young  men  in  Latin  American  countries  is  enlisting  the 


NEXT  STEPS  IN  INTER-AMERICAN  FRIENDSHIP  395 

cooperation  of  the  business  world  through  attempts  which 
are  being  made  to  provide  positions  for  North  American 
young  men  in  commercial  houses  of  these  countries  and  in 
commercial  houses  of  the  United  States  which  have  branches 
abroad. 

Every  effort  is  being  made  to  encourage  the  attendance  of 
Latin  American  young  people  in  our  universities  and 
last  year  some  5,000  of  them  were  scattered  among  the 
different  institutions,  double  the  number  in  the  United  States 
five  years  ago.  The  Pan  American  Union  has  an  Education 
Department  of  which  Dr.  Francisco  J.  Yanes  is  Chairman 
which  is  doing  all  it  can  to  assist  such  students.  An  exten- 
sive work  of  this  nature  is  also  carried  on  by  the  Committee 
on  Friendly  Relations  Among  Foreign  Students,  which  pub- 
lishes a magazine  for  the  students.  Among  the  various  other 
organizations  that  are  working  along  these  lines  may  be 
mentioned  the  Institute  of  International  Education,  which 
has  recently  begun  active  promotion  of  exchanges  between 
the  universities  of  the  North  and  South. 

The  number  of  such  students  could  be  increased  by  the 
thousands  if  the  cost  was  not  prohibitive.  If  large  numbers 
of  Latin  American  students  are  to  come  to  the  United  States 
there  must  be  a greater  effort  made  to  reduce  the  tuition  and 
provide  scholarships.  Some  notable  attempts  of  this  kind 
have  already  been  made.  Thirty-five  universities  and  col- 
leges in  the  United  States  now  offer  free  tuition  to  Latin 
American  students  and  several  others  have  made  even  fur- 
ther concessions  by  means  of  scholarships,  but  the  number 
must  be  increased. 

The  greatest  barrier,  of  course,  to  the  free  development  of 
intellectual  relationships  between  the  Americas  is  that  of 
language.  It  would  be  difficult  to  overstate  the  importance 
of  this.  The  increased  interest  in  the  teaching  and  study  of 
Spanish  in  the  United  States  and  of  English  in  the  other 
countries  augurs  well  for  the  future  of  American  relations. 
A notable  advance  in  the  teaching  of  Spanish  has  been  made 
recently  in  the  formation  of  “The  American  Association  of 
Teachers  of  Spanish,”  which,  among  other  things,  is  pub- 
lishing a remarkably  fine  magazine  called  Hispania. 

Along  with  the  study  of  language  it  is  of  prime  impor- 


396 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


tance  to  awaken  the  interest  of  our  young  people  in  their 
American  neighbors  by  including  in  the  schemes  of  popular 
education  proper  courses  of  study  upon  the  geography,  his- 
tory, institutions  and  varied  character  of  the  peoples  with 
whom  destiny  has  linked  us  for  future  cooperation.  Many 
textbooks  for  the  use  of  students  of  Spanish  are  coming  from 
our  publishing  houses;  numerous  courses  in  Spanish  and 
Portuguese  literature  have  been  introduced ; several  maga- 
zines devoted  to  inter-American  affairs  are  being  published, 
the  most  important  of  which  are  given  in  the  reading  refer- 
ences at  the  end  of  this  chapter. 

The  Latin  American  people,  on  their  part,  are  studying 
English  as  never  before  and  books  and  periodicals  concern- 
ing North  American  affairs  are  having  a wide  circulation. 
A number  of  the  leading  daily  newspapers  recently  perfected 
arrangements  with  North  American  Press  agencies  which 
will  keep  their  readers  in  constant  touch  with  North  Ameri- 
can life.  The  head  of  the  Modern  Languages  Department 
of  the  University  of  Chile  reports  that  he  had  six  pupils 
studying  English  when  he  took  charge  of  the  Department 
seven  years  ago,  and  he  now  has  about  three  hundred. 

THE  EXCHANGE  OF  GOOD  LITERATURE 

It  makes  no  difference  what  else  we  may  do  to  introduce 
North  American  ideals  to  Latin  America,  we  shall  never 
accomplish  all  that  we  should  until  we  have  given  them  our 
literature.  Latin  Americans  are  particularly  susceptible  to 
the  influence  of  books,  as  are  all  Latins.  They  place  great 
authority  on  the  written  word.  Heretofore  they  have  known 
very  little  about  our  literature  and,  strange  to  say,  works  like 
those  of  Emerson,  James  and  others  of  our  philosophers 
that  have  become  quite  popular  in  certain  circles  in  Latin 
America,  are  either  read  in  French  or  have  been  translated 
from  French  or  German  editions  into  the  Spanish.  There 
are  few  things  of  more  importance  than  a systematic  effort 
to  introduce  American  literature  into  these  countries.  If 
we  can  get  them  to  read  the  lives  of  some  of  our  great  men 
like  Washington  and  Lincoln  and  some  books  like  Van 
Dyke’s  “American  Ideals,”  Howe’s  “The  American  City,” 


NEXT  STEPS  IN  INTER-AMERICAN  FRIENDSHIP  397 


etc.,  great  good  would  be  accomplished.  The  Carnegie  En- 
dowment for  International  Peace  and  the  Committee  on  Co- 
operation in  Latin  America  are  beginning  to  work  on  this 
program. 

Our  publishers  and  other  business  men  who  are  interested 
in  the  permeation  of  Latin  America  with  North  American 
ideals,  could  do  nothing  more  worth  while  than  push  this 
business.  It  would  pay  commercially,  not  only  for  the  books 
themselves  that  were  sold,  but  it  would  also  create  a generally 
good  impression  that  would  bring  about  a demand  for  all 
kinds  of  American  goods.  Now  is  the  very  best  time  to 
begin  such  a campaign.  In  the  old  colonial  days  Spain  fur- 
nished the  literature  for  the  colonies.  But  when  indepen- 
dence was  secured  from  the  mother  country,  her  intellectual 
influence  was  largely  lost.  France  came  to  be  the  ideal  of 
these  new  countries.  Her  publishing  ideals  became  the 
model  for  all  of  those  countries  and  so  it  was  that  her  books 
began  to  hold  sway  in  the  beginning  of  the  last  century. 
This  lasted  practically  up  to  the  present  time.  There  has 
been,  however,  a gradual  reaction  against  French  literature 
by  a great  many  of  the  best  Latin  Americans  because  of  the 
indecent  French  novels  and  the  obscene  Parisian  literature 
that  have  led  many  to  outlaw  all  French  literature. 

During  recent  years  Spain  has  taken  note  of  this  and  has 
made  a great  effort  to  recuperate  her  lost  trade  in  books. 

But  the  bookmakers  that  have  made  the  greatest  strides  in 
Latin  America  during  the  last  twenty  years  are  the  Germans. 
They  have  studied  very  carefully  the  market,  found  out  the 
kind  of  books  that  the  people  like  and  the  kind  of  edition  that 
appeals  to  them,  and  have  given  them  this.  They  have 
translated  a great  many  of  the  French  and  English  and 
American  authors  into  Spanish.  As  I said  before,  some  of 
these  translations  of  American  authors  have  been  made  from 
the  French  rather  than  from  the  original  English,  showing 
how  far  we  have  been  detached  from  Latin  American  litera- 
ture and  how  difficult  it  has  been  for  them  to  come  in  touch 
with  us.  The  War  of  course  cut  off  Germany  from  her  book 
trade  with  Latin  America  and  it  will  be  a long  time  before 
she  will  be  able  to  recover  it.  The  present  time,  therefore,  is 
most  propitious,  both  from  the  commercial  and  the  cultural 


398 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


standpoints,  for  us  to  circulate  our  American  literature 
among  our  southern  friends. 

On  the  other  hand,  as  has  been  shown  in  an  earlier  chap- 
ter, Latin  America  has  produced  and  is  producing  a literature 
that  is  by  every  token  worthy  of  our  reading  and  considera- 
tion. The  increasing  study  in  the  United  States  of  Spanish 
and  Portuguese  should  make  a market  for  these  books  in 
their  original  languages.  Meantime  it  is  an  encouraging 
sign  that  scholarly  and  appreciative  translations  of  some  of 
the  best  of  them  are  beginning  to  appear  on  our  book  mar- 
ket. How  can  we  ever  expect  to  understand  our  neighbors 
until  we  can  read  and  weigh  the  literature  on  which  their 
intellectual  life  is  nourished? 

SPIRITUAL  AMBASSADORS 

One  of  the  real  reasons  for  the  mutual  misunderstandings 
between  North  and  Latin  America  is  that  we  have  been 
afraid  to  discuss  frankly  the  various  phases  of  life  bound 
up  in  our  religious  experiences  and  inheritances.  Whenever 
such  a thing  is  remotely  hinted  at  in  Pan  American  circles 
one  is  likely  to  be  told  that  it  is  entirely  improper  to  mention 
such  divisive  questions.  But  how  can  men  be  real  friends 
and  never  talk  of  their  belief  in  God?  From  Mexico  to  Chile 
I have  recently  presented  the  following  idea  to  leading  citi- 
zens : “We  have  had  a fine  period  of  Pan  American  getting 
together  recently.  Pan  American  conferences,  exchange 
visits  and  other  courtesies  have  greatly  encouraged  friend- 
ship. But  you  and  I know  that  these  have  generally  been 
quite  on  the  surface.  Has  not  the  time  come  for  us  to 
discuss  frankly  the  religious  phases  of  our  life?  Protestant 
Christianity  cannot  be  separated  from  the  life  of  the  United 
States.  It  has  been  and  is  the  fundamental  influence,  the 
guiding  motive  in  the  life  of  most  of  our  public  men  as  well 
as  those  in  private  life.  Roman  Catholicism  has  certainly 
had  a great  influence  in  your  country.  To  understand  one 
another  must  we  not  stop  fencing  off  the  religious  problem, 
and  face  frankly  the  question  whether  or  not  we  can  find 
those  common  truths  in  one  another’s  religion  that  will  bind 
us  together  and  help  solve  our  problems?” 


NEXT  STEPS  IN  INTER-AMERICAN  FRIENDSHIP  399 


Almost  every  man  to  whom  I have  thus  spoken  expressed 
his  agreement  with  this  view.  If  we  can  in  sympathy  and 
love  and  frankness  contribute  something  to  this  discussion  it 
will  be  worth  the  mistakes  and  misunderstandings  and  criti- 
cism that  erring  human  judgment  is  certain  to  bring. 

We  need  a number  of  spiritual  ambassadors  going  up 
and  down  this  America  of  ours,  cultivating  understanding 
and  friendship  by  interpreting  to  all  the  people  the  great 
truth  that  God  has  made  of  one  blood  all  the  nations  and 
has  called  each  and  everyone  to  make  its  own  particular 
contribution  to  the  work  of  the  world. 

We  have  had  such  ambassadors  in  the  past.  Dr.  Horace 
Lane  went  from  the  United  States  to  Brazil  to  establish  him- 
self in  business.  But  he  fell  so  deeply  in  love  with  the  Bra- 
zilians that  he  gave  himself  to  helping  them  educate  their 
youth.  As  the  founder  and  president  of  Mackenzie  College, 
he  did  more  to  endear  North  Americans  to  Brazilians  than 
any  governmental  agent  ever  sent  to  that  country.  His 
funeral  was  the  largest  ever  held  in  the  city  of  Sao  Paulo. 
As  one  travels  through  Brazil  to-day  he  finds  the  name  of 
Mackenzie  College  to  be  the  key  that  everywhere  unlocks 
the  doors.  The  graduates  of  the  school  are  found  occupying 
the  highest  positions  in  official  and  commercial  life. 

What  Dr.  Lane  was  to  Sao  Paulo,  H.  C.  Tucker,  another 
North  American,  is  to  Rio  de  Janeiro.  Going  to  Brazil  thirty- 
five  years  ago  as  the  agent  of  the  American  Bible  Society,  he 
has  so  identified  himself  with  the  community  that  it  may  be 
said  that  he  occupies  a unique  position  of  influence  both  with 
Brazilians  and  foreigners.  He  has  so  largely  won  the  confi- 
dence of  the  municipality  that  it  follows  his  ideas  in  putting 
in  municipal  playgrounds,  in  developing  public  clinics  and 
hospitals,  and  in  introducing  modern  means  of  sanitation  and 
social  betterment  into  the  city’s  life.  It  was  at  his  sugges- 
tion that  the  government  decided  to  apply  modern  methods 
to  the  elimination  of  yellow  fever  from  Rio  de  Janeiro. 

John  M.  Silliman,  a classmate  of  President  Wilson  at 
Princeton,  was  another  of  these  ambassadors.  For  twenty 
or  more  years  he  lived  as  a “gentleman  farmer”  at  Saltillo, 
Mexico.  His  up-to-date  agricultural  and  dairying  methods 
were  used  more  to  help  his  Mexican  neighbors  to  improve 


400 


PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 


their  crops  than  to  add  to  his  own  possessions.  He  was 
first  in  every  movement  for  community  betterment.  He  was 
equally  popular  among  Mexicans  and  Americans.  On  Sun- 
days, if  there  was  no  minister  to  speak  to  the  little  American 
congregation,  he  would  hurry  from  his  large  men’s  bible 
class  at  the  Mexican  church  to  read  one  of  Beecher’s  sermons 
to  the  Americans.  And  he  found  not  only  his  American 
friends  there  but  a good  sprinkling  of  Mexicans  wishing  to 
try  out  their  English  and  be  near  the  big  man  they  loved. 
It  was  no  wonder  that  President  Wilson  in  the  difficult  days 
of  the  Mexican  Revolution  found  that  Silliman  was  both 
his  most  reliable  guide  and  the  most  acceptable  American 
representative  before  the  Constitutionalist  movement.  His 
death,  brought  about  by  pneumonia  contracted  in  the  work 
of  bettering  relationships  between  his  native  and  his  adopted 
lands,  was  mourned  by  friends  all  over  Mexico. 

How  much  it  would  mean  if  both  the  governmental  world 
and  the  business  world  should  keep  in  mind  this  idea  of  spir- 
itual ambassadors  as  they  select  their  representatives  to  these 
countries ! This  does  not  mean  that  they  must  be  “preach- 
ers,” or  necessarily  loud  in  their  religious  professions,  but 
ministers,  real  evangelists  of  good  will,  whether  business 
men,  government  agents  or  representatives  of  philanthropic 
or  missionary  organizations.  They  would  take  very  seri- 
ously the  work  of  interpreting  the  best  of  North  American 
life  to  the  Latin  Americans,  and  would  bring  back  to  their 
own  people  a realization  of  the  lovable  traits  as  well  as  the 
serious  needs  of  our  fellow  Americans. 

In  spite  of  all  the  misunderstandings  of  the  past,  great 
men  both  in  the  North  and  in  the  South  have  believed  from 
the  very  beginning  of  the  independent  life  of  the  American 
nations  that,  as  Maia  said  to  Jefferson,  “Nature  in  making 
us  inhabitants  of  the  same  continent  has  in  some  way  united 
us  in  the  bonds  of  a common  patriotism.”  The  persistence 
of  the  idea  of  American  unity  in  the  hearts  and  minds  of 
great  Americans  through  all  these  years  is  one  of  the  out- 
standing phenomena  of  the  history  of  the  western  hemi- 
sphere. Many  have  been  the  forces  sent  against  it.  Many 
have  been  the  selfish  influences  both  North  and  South  that 
have  intrigued  for  its  destruction.  But  American  unity 


NEXT  STEPS  IN  INTER-AMERICAN  FRIENDSHIP  401 


must  be  of  God:  apparently  it  cannot  be  destroyed.  After 
a hundred  years  of  vicissitudes  it  is  to-day  more  easy  of 
realization  than  ever  before.  “God  has  made  us  neighbors, 
let  justice  make  us  friends,”  and  let  the  needs  of  the  world 
make  us  brothers  for  the  service  of  humanity.  Never  was 
there  so  great  an  opportunity  for  this  service  as  to-day,  when 
many  people  are  declaring  that  the  war  has  so  weakened 
Europe  that  the  world’s  hope  lies  in  America. 

As  we  give  ourselves  to  building  this  America,  we  find 
that,  fortunately,  the  North  and  the  South  are  complements 
the  one  to  the  other.  This  is  true  in  the  physical  realm, 
where  precisely  the  things  that  one  is  rich  in  are  things  the 
other  lacks  and  vice  versa.  In  the  moral  realm,  while  the 
North  American  is  energetic,  inventive,  resourceful  and 
practical,  the  South  American  is  courteous,  refined,  open- 
hearted  and  idealistic. 

When,  therefore,  the  ideal  American  appears,  he  will  not 
be  altogether  the  cold,  organizing  Anglo-Saxon,  worshiper 
of  truth,  nor  entirely  the  warm,  philosophizing  Latin,  wor- 
shiper of  grace,  but  he  will  be  a combination  of  the  two — 
he  will  be  like  the  only  perfect  Man,  of  whom  it  was  said  that 
he  was  full  of  grace  and  truth. 

Sources  of  Further  Information  on  Next  Steps  in  Inter- 
American  Friendship 

Bulletins  issued  by  the  Inter-American  Section  of  the  American 
Association  for  International  Conciliation:  among  the  most 
important  are : 

Blakeslee:  Our  Relations  to  South  America  and  How  to 

Improve  Them. 

Gil:  Pan  Americanism  and  the  International  Policy  of  Ar- 
gentina. 

Goldsmith  : The  Next  Step  in  Inter-American  Relations. 
Moore:  Henry  Clay  and  Pan  Americanism. 

Nabuco:  The  Approach  of  the  Two  Americas. 
Oliveira-Lima  : Relations  of  Brazil  with  the  United  States. 
Rowe  : Possibilities  of  Intellectual  Cooperation  Between 

North  and  South  America. 

Sherrill:  The  South  American  Point  of  View. 

The  University  as  a Factor  in  Pan  Americanism. 

Calderon,  F.  Garcia:  El  Wilsonismo. 

Inman,  Samuel  G. : Intervention  in  Mexico,  Christian  cooperation 
in  Latin  America. 


402  PROBLEMS  IN  PAN  AMERICANISM 

International  Relations  of  the  United  States,  an  enlightening  series 
of  addresses  by  American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social 
Sciences,  1914. 

Reyes,  Rafael:  The  Two  Americas. 

Sherwood,  G.  A.:  Glimpses  of  South  America. 

Speer,  Robert  E. : The  Unity  of  the  Americas. 

Files  of  South  American,  Inter-America,  Pan  American  Bulletin, 
Pan  American  Magazine,  Pan  American  Review,  Hispanic 
American  Historical  Review,  La  Nueva  Democracia. 


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Aranda,  Ricardo:  Congresos  y Conferencias  Internacionales  en 
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Blakeslee,  Geo.  H. : Mexico  and  the  Caribbean,  Clark  University 
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Cooper,  Clayton  S. : Understanding  South  America;  New  York; 
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Garcia,  Meron  Martin  : Historia  de  la  Diplomacia  Americana, 
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Garrigo,  Roque  E. : America  para  los  Americanos;  New  York; 
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Lobo,  Helio:  Cousas  Diplomaticas ; Rio  de  Janeiro,  Brazil;  Leite, 
Rebeiro  y Maurillo;  1918. 

Lockey,  Joseph  B.:  Pan  Americanism,  Its  Beginnings;  New 
York;  The  Macmillan  Company;  1920. 

Mackenna,  B.  Vicuna:  Estudios  Historicos;  Santiago,  Chile; 
“La  Voz  de  Chile”  ; 1862. 

Manero,  Antonio:  Mexico  y la  Solidaridad  Americana;  Madrid, 
Spain;  Editorial  Americana;  1917. 

Markham,  Clement:  Incas  of  Peru;  New  York;  E.  P.  Dutton 
Co.;  1912. 

Marti,  Jose:  Los  Estados  Unidos;  Madrid,  Spain;  Sociedad 
Espanol  de  Libreria. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  405 

Maurtua,  Anibal:  La  Idea  Pan  Americana  y la  Cuestion  del 
Arbitraje;  Lima,  Peru;  Imprenta  La  Industria. 

Moore,  John  Bassett:  Principles  of  American  Diplomacy;  New 
York;  Harper  Brothers;  1918. 

Munro,  Dana  G. : Five  Republics  of  Central  America;  New  York; 
Oxford  University  Press;  1918. 

New  Pan-Americanism:  Boston,  Mass.;  World  Peace  Foundation; 
1916. 

Oliveira-Lima,  Manoel  de:  Evolution  of  Brazil  Compared  with 
Spanish  and  Anglo-Saxon  America;  Stanford  University,  Cal.; 
Stanford  University;  1914. 

Ortiz,  Fernando:  La  Reconquista  de  la  America;  Paris,  Ollen- 
dorf. 

Pan  American  Conferences  and  Their  Significance : Philadelphia, 
Pa. ; American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Sciences ; 
February,  1906. 

Perez,  Abel  J. : America;  Montevideo,  Uruguay;  “El  Siglo 

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Petre,  F.  L. : Simon  Bolivar;  New  York,  John  Lane  Co.,  1918. 
Pinochet,  Tancredo:  The  Gulf  of  Misunderstanding;  New 

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Posada,  Adolfo  : En  America,  Una  Campana ; Madrid,  Spain ; 
Francisco  Beltran;  1911. 

Prado,  Eduardo:  A Ulusao  Americana;  Sao  Paulo;  Brazil; 

Livaria  Magalhaes. 

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Washington,  D.  C. ; Government  Printing  Office;  1917. 
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Stokes  Co.;  1914. 

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New  York;  Appleton  & Co.;  1918. 

Rodo,  Jose  Enrique:  Ariel;  Valencia,  Spain;  Editorial  Prometeo. 
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I9I5- 

Sarmiento,  Domingo  F. : Conflicto  y Armonia  de  las  Razas; 

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Abingdon  Press;  1919. 

Ugarte,  M. : El  Porvenir  de  la  America  Latina;  Valencia;  F. 
Sempere  y Compania. 


INDEX 


Adams,  John  Quincy,  attitude 
toward  Hispanic  America, 

107. 

interpretation  of  Monroe  Doc- 
trine, 152. 

Alberdi,  Juan  Bautista,  analysis 
of  Argentine  life,  45. 
favorable  to  Protestantism,  94. 
favorable  to  European  inter- 
vention, 21 1. 

idea  concerning  Monroe  Doc- 
trine, 152. 

ideas  concerning  immigration, 

66. 

quoted  by  Barcos,  53. 
student  of  democracy,  36. 
thesis  on  American  unity,  121. 

Alessandri,  Arturo,  address  to 
Protestant  ministers,  94. 

Alsop  Claim,  cartoon  on,  373. 

Alvarez,  Agustin,  criticism  of  the 
church,  50. 
evil  of  the  lie,  86. 
need  of  a liberal  religion,  93. 

Alvarez,  Alejandro,  proposals 
concerning  the  Monroe  Doc- 
trine, 208. 

American  Congress,  meeting  in 
Lima,  112. 
results  of,  113. 

American  League  of  Nations,  sug- 
gested by  Pres.  Brum,  191. 

Araucanians,  wars  with  described 
by  Ercilla,  20. 
present  condition  of,  59. 

Arbitration,  boundary  disputes 
settled  by,  21 1. 

discussed  at  first  Pan  American 
Congress,  198. 

early  proposed  in  Latin  Amer- 
ica, 39- 

first  proposed  at  Panama  Con- 
gress, no. 

Argentina,  advocate  of  arbitra- 
tion, 1 1 7. 


Argentina,  attitude  toward  Ameri- 
can unity,  1 1 5. 
education  in,  80. 
foreign  population  of,  67. 
inclination  toward  Europe,  116. 
intellectual  circle  of,  28. 
liberation  of  slaves  in,  37. 
problems  of,  45. 

Argiiedas,  Alcides,  description  of 
Indians’  abuses,  57. 
elements  opposed  to  develop- 
ment of  Latin  America 
named,  65. 

Assets  of  Latin  America,  intel- 
lectual values,  17. 
market  for  manufactured^goods, 
16. 

power  to  produce  raw  materials, 
16. 

room  for  large  population,  16. 


Barbosa,  Rua,  address  concerning 
world  war,  253. 

Barcos,  Jose,  advocates  friend- 
ship with  United  States,  351. 
need  of  more  practical  basis  for 
Latin  American  life,  53. 

Bayard,  Thomas  F.,  despatch  con- 
cerning collection  of  claims, 
213. 

Bello,  Andres,  ode  to  agriculture, 
27. 

Blaine,  James  G.,  calls  first  Pan 
American  Congress,  196,  197. 
contribution  to  American 
friendship,  123. 

ideas  on  Pan  Americanism, 
220. 

Blanco-Fombona,  Rufino,  indict- 
ment of  North  America,  330. 
opposition  of  two  Americas, 
328- 

studies  of  Latin  American  life, 
47- 


407 


408 


INDEX 


Bolivar,  Simon,  attitude  toward 
United  States,  106,  324. 

death  of,  hi. 

favorable  to  immigration,  66. 

Jamaica  letter,  103. 

work  for  American  unity,  104, 

105. 

Bomfin,  M.,  need  of  education  in 
Brazil,  83. 

on  ills  of  Latin  America,  55. 

Brazil,  early  suggestion  of  Ameri- 
can unity,  101. 

independence  of,  first  recognized 
by  United  States,  130,  13 1. 

Brum,  Baltazar,  advocates  Latin 
American  federation.  361. 

idealism  of  United  States,  347, 
348. 

suggests  American  league,  191. 

Bryan-Chamorro  Treaty,  protests 
against,  305.  30 7- 

Buchanan,  W.  J.,  proposed  arbi- 
tration to  Argentina  and 
Chile,  211. 

representative  of  United  States 
in  Central  American  Confer- 
ence, 299. 

Buenos  Aires,  beauties  of,  40. 

Bulnes,  Francesco,  clerical  propa- 
ganda, 343. 

description  of  Latin  America’s 
problems,  46. 

Bunge,  C.  O.,  future  of  South 
America,  56. 

psychological  studies  of  Latin 
America,  48. 


Calderon,  F.  Garcia,  attitude  of 
Argentina  toward  American 
unity,  1 16. 

comments  on  Monroe  Doctrine, 
168-171. 

condemnation  of  politicians,  65- 
description  of  two  forms  of 
Americanism,  328.  329. 
book  translated  into  English, 
55.. 

religious  renaissance  needed, 
93- 

Calderon,  Ignacio,  appeal  for  In- 
dians, 61. 

Canning,  George,  connection  with 
Monroe  Doctrine,  151,  152. 


Caribbean  Countries,  economic  re- 
sources of,  274,  275. 
growing  influence  of  United 
States  in,  270-271. 
strategic  importance  of,  272. 
suggestions  for  better  relations 
with,  320,  321. 

Castaneda,  Francisco,  studies  con- 
cerning American  unity,  101. 

Caste,  prevalence  in  Latin  Amer- 
ica, 65. 

Central  America,  attitude  toward 
United  States,  318. 
conference  called  by  United 
States  and  Mexico,  298,  299. 
court  of  justice  organized,  299, 
300,  301. 

movements  toward  unity,  297. 
welcome  of  moral  assistance, 
3i9. 

Chadwick,  F.  E.,  advises  against 
intervention  in  Mexico,  376. 
states  need  of  study  of  tem- 
perament, 389. 

Child  Welfare  Congress,  address 
at.  256. 

Chile,  changed  attitude  toward 
United  States,  247. 
liberation  of  slaves  in,  37. 

North  American  student  in,  23. 
parliamentary  system  in,  38. 

Chinese,  presence  in  various 
American  countries,  68. 

Chocano,  Jose  Santos,  singer  of 
American  friendship,  355. 

“Christ  of  the  Andes,”  statue  com- 
memorating aribtration  vic- 
tory, 21 1. 

Civilization  of  Latin  America, 
described  by  Theodore  Roose- 
velt, 386. 

preceded  by  Indian  civilization, 
17- 

recognized  by  Elihu  Root,  17. 

Clay,  Henry,  fight  for  recognition 
of  Spanish  American  states, 
135.  136,  137.  . 

writes  instructions  of  United 
States  delegates  to  Panama 
Congress,  107. 

Clemenceau,  Georges,  opinion  of 
South  America,  42. 

Cleveland,  Grover,  protection  of 
Venezuela,  175. 


INDEX 


409 


Collection  of  Claims,  case  of 
Venezuela,  214,  215. 

President  Roosevelt  on,  213. 
Secretary  Bayard  on,  213. 

Colombia,  action  in  regard  to 
Panama  Canal,  279,  280. 
plans  for  American  congress, 
1 16. 

religious  problem  in,  92. 
settlement  with  by  United 
States,  282. 

Colmo,  Alfredo,  comparison  of 
United  States  and  Latin 
America,  51. 

Commercial  Relations,  aid  to 
American  friendship,  356. 
dependent  on  good  understand- 
ing, 389- 

increase  of  between  the  United 
States  and  Hispanic  Amer- 
ica, 229. 

rapid  development  of,  15. 
struggle  of  various  nations  to 
increase  with  Hispanic  Amer- 
ica, 239-242. 

Committee  on  Cooperation  in 
Latin  America,  work  for 
American  friendship,  244. 

Continental  Treaty  for  protection 
against  United  States,  115. 

Cruz,  Oswaldo,  directed  sanita- 
tion in  Rio  de  Janeiro,  33. 

Cuba,  commerce  of,  16. 
economic  development  of  be- 
cause of  world  war,  232. 
educational  problem,  80. 
early  desired  by  United  States, 
272. 

Dario,  Ruben,  changed  attitude 
toward  United  States,  366. 
ode  to  Roosevelt,  363. 

Democracy,  insistent  ideal  in 
Latin  America,  35. 

Diplomacy,  need  for  improvement 
in  North  America,  377. 

Drago  Doctrine,  statement  of, 
215- 

Economic  Problem,  involves  for- 
eign complications,  72. 

Economic  Resources,  increased  by 
world  war,  230-233. 


Education,  problem  among  In 
dians,  61. 

problem  in  Haiti,  295. 
problem  of,  78,  79. 
progress  of  in  Santo  Domingo, 
287. 

questions  of  curriculum,  85. 

El  Salvador,  political  attitude  of, 
311- 

Fine  Arts,  Latin  America’s  ap- 
preciation of,  20. 

Foreign  Concessions,  baneful  in- 
fluence of,  73,  75,  265. 
exploited  in  Honduras,  74. 
overstated  in  Venezuela,  74. 

France,  commercial  relations  of 
with  Hispanic  America,  240. 

French  Influence  in  Latin  Amer- 
ica, democratic  idealism,  35. 

Friendly  Visitors,  sent  to  His- 
panic America  by  various 
countries,  243. 

Garcia,  Juan  A.,  analysis  of 
Hispanic  American  life,  48. 

Garrigo,  Roque,  author  of  “Amer- 
ica for  Americans,”  355. 

Germany,  colonists  in  South 
America,  67. 

commercial  activities  of,  16. 
present  economic  relations  with 
Latin  America,  241. 
propaganda  in  Central  America, 
34B  342- 

Godoy,  F.  Garcia,  argument  for 
Pan  Latinism,  326,  327. 
objections  to  immigration,  65. 
visit  to  his  home,  288. 

Grant,  Ulysses  S.,  condemnation 
of  Mexican  War,  143. 
declaration  against  intervention, 
212. 

proposal  to  annex  Santo  Do- 
mingo, 273. 

Great  Britain,  attitude  toward  in- 
dependence of  Brazil,  131. 
economic  relations  with  Latin 
America,  241. 

help  given  Spanish  colonies, 
136. 

Guatemala,  reference  to  “manifest 
destiny”  by,  1 15. 
revolution  against  Cabrera,  313. 


410 


INDEX 


Hague  Conference,  action  con- 
cerning Drago  Doctrine,  215. 
Latin  America’s  place  in,  218. 

Haiti,  backwardness  of,  290. 
educational  needs  of,  295. 
moral  obligation  of  United 
States  toward,  296. 

North  American  occupation  of, 
290,  291,  292. 

Hamilton,  Alexander,  help  for 
Miranda,  127. 

Harding,  Warren  G.,  comment  on 
Monroe  Doctrine,  164,  189. 
election  commented  by  La 
Nation,  188. 

Hay-Herran  Convention,  279. 

Hay,  John,  negotiations  concern- 
ing Panama  Canal,  278,  279, 
280. 

Hay-Pauncefote  Treaty,  279. 

Heredia,  Jose  M.,  ode  to  Niagara, 
43- 

Hidalgo,  Miguel,  decree  against 
slavery,  37. 

Hostos,  Eugenio  Maria  de,  versa- 
tile life  of,  28. 

Huerta,  G.  Gardus,  quoted  con- 
cerning the  church,  91. 

Illiteracy,  prevalence  in  Latin 
America,  79,  80. 

Immigration,  advocated  by  Bar- 
cos,  55. 

advocated  by  Sarmiento,  45. 
needed  in  Latin  America,  65,  66. 
problem  of  German  and  Jap- 
anese, 67. 

Imperialism,  confused  with  Mon- 
roe Doctrine,  172. 
feared  in  Latin  America,  266. 
evil  effects  in  Haiti,  291-293. 

Indians,  art  of,  22. 

Calderon’s  appeal  for,  61. 
early  civilization  of,  17. 
ill  treatment  of  Yaqui,  64. 
problem  of  stated,  57-64. 

Ingenieros,  Jose,  quoted  concern- 
ing social  problems,  262. 

Intellectual  Circles  of  Latin 
America,  early  attainments  of, 
21. 

present  members  of,  22,  23. 

International  Policies  of  America, 
three  important  ones,  98. 


Intervention,  evil  effects  on 
American  friendship,  375. 
Lord  Palmerston  on,  213. 
Mexican  protested  by  Ugarte, 
335- 

North  American  in  Haiti,  290. 
North  American  in  Santo  Do- 
mingo, 282,  283,  289. 
not  justified  for  collection  of 
claims,  213. 

opposed  by  president  of  Co- 
lombia, 339. 

opposed  generally  by  Latin 
America,  211. 

United  States  in  Cuba,  275- 
277. 

United  States  in  Nicaragua,  303. 
urged  in  Mexico  by  financial 
interests,  265. 

various  instances  of  in  Latin 
America,  21 1. 
various  types  of,  21 1. 

Japan,  alliance  with,  not  feasible, 
358,  359- . 

alliance  with  Latin  America 
advocated  by  Ugarte,  336. 
commercial  activities  of,  16. 
economic  relations  of  with 
Hispanic  America,  242. 
sends  immigrants  to  Latin 
America,  67,  68. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  interview  with 
Brazilian  students,  126. 
letter  to  Claiborne  on  friend- 
ship for  Spanish  America, 
127. 

on  Monroe  Doctrine,  149. 

Juarez,  Benito,  favors  Protes- 
tantism, 94. 

Kindness  of  Latin  Americans, 
shown  in  various  ways,  41. 

Labor  Movement,  development  of, 
238,  239. 

La  Nation,  reference  to  Monroe 
Doctrine  and  League  of  Na- 
tions, 188. 

Land  System,  evil  results  of,  63. 

Language  Study,  need  of,  395. 

La  Prensa,  approval  of  Pres. 
Wilson’s  message,  356. 
home  of,  20. 


INDEX 


411 


La  Prensa,  comment  on  early 
friendship  between  Argentina 
and  United  States,  129. 
resents  North  American  diplo- 
macy, 372. 

Lane,  Dr.  Horace,  founds  Mac- 
kenzie College,  399. 

League  of  Nations,  attitude  of 
Latin  America  toward,  176. 
preference  for  in  Latin  Amer- 
ica, 369. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  condemnation 
of  Mexican  War,  143,  144. 
Sarmiento’s  life  of,  324. 

Literature,  early  examples  of 
Latin  American,  34. 
exchange  of  necessary,  396. 
need  of  knowing  Hispanic 
American,  391. 

Literature  of  Latin  America,  em- 
phasis on  democracy,  35. 

Lobo,  Helio,  shows  unfairness  of 
North  American  critics,  353. 

Love  of  the  Artistic,  various  ways 
shown  by  Latin  Americans, 
40. 

Lugones,  Leopoldo,  address  con- 
cerning World  War,  232. 


Madison,  James,  friendship  for 
Latin  America,  131,  132. 

Manifest  Destiny,  boasted  by 
United  States  orators,  146. 
criticized  at  Second  American 
Congress,  119. 
lessened  by  Civil  War,  195. 
objected  to  by  Guatemala,  115. 

Mediation,  between  United  States 
and  Mexico,  217. 
outstanding  cases  in  America, 
216. 

Mexican  War,  caused  changed  at- 
titude of  Latin  America  to 
United  States,  145. 
condemned  by  Grant,  143. 

Mexico,  defended  by  Manuel 
Ugarte,  334,  335- 
early  friendly  expressions  to 
United  States,  141,  142. 
foreign  holdings,  75,  76,  77. 
kindness  of  country  people,  41. 
land  problem  of,  63. 
liberation  of  slaves  in,  37. 


Mexico,  Mexican-American  Com- 
mission, 23. 

poet  of,  24. 

need  of  North  American  friend- 
ship with,  376. 

resents  arrogance  of  Senate 
investigation,  373. 

Monroe,  James,  recognition  of 
Hispanic  American  inde- 
pendence, 140. 

issues  his  famous  doctrine, 
1 53- 

writes  instructions  for  first 
agents  of  United  States  to 
South  America,  128. 

Monroe  Doctrine,  confused  with 
other  policies,  171,  172. 

debate  between  Prof.  Bingham 
and  Sr.  Calderon,  166-170. 

definition  requested  by  El  Sal- 
vador, 179-181. 

definition  of  given  by  State 
Department,  186. 

discussion  of  at  Fourth  Pan 
American  Congress,  207. 

early  approval  by  Central 
America,  100. 

false  interpretation  pointed  out 
by  Pres.  Lowell,  266. 

favorable  reception  in  Latin 
America,  154-156. 

Great  Britain’s  part  in  its  proc- 
lamation, 15 1. 

interpreted  imperialistically  by 
certain  leaders  in  United 
States,  147,  165. 

meaning  as  defined  by  various 
authorities,  157,  158,  159, 

160. 

need  of  clear  definition  of,  193, 
374- 

popular  misunderstanding  of, 
149- 

relation  to  collection  of  debts, 

161. 

relation  to  League  of  Nations, 
176-182. 

text  of,  153,  154. 

Montalvo,  Juan,  exaltation  of 
Christianity  as  author  of 
democracy,  36. 

Moore,  John  Bassett,  on  Pan 
Americanism,  221. 

Moral  Problem,  analysis  of,  86. 


412 


INDEX 


Nabuco,  Juaquin,  address  at 
Washington,  222. 
home  of,  32. 

immigration  a common  Ameri- 
can problem,  68. 
mutual  indebtedness  of  the 
Americas,  391. 

proposal  concerning  Monroe 
Doctrine,  207. 

reference  to  Princess  Isabela  of 
Brazil,  35. 

Naon,  R.  S.,  on  importance  of 
Pan  Americanism,  384. 

Nervo,  Amado,  poem  on  “Mys- 
tics,” 25. 
work  of,  24. 

Neutrality,  benevolent  by  United 
States  toward  Spanish  col- 
onies, 126. 

Niagara  Falls,  Heredia’s  ode  to,  43. 

Nicaragua,  intervention  in  by 
United  States,  303. 

Oliveira  Lima,  Manoel  de,  visit 
to,  32. 

Olmeda,  Jose  Juaquin  de,  ode  to 
Bolivar,  26. 

Olney,  Richard,  interest  of  United 
States  in  all  America,  175. 

Pan  Americanism,  commercial  as- 
pects of,  228,  229. 
confused  with  Monroe  Doc- 
trine, 173. 

early  expressions  of,  99. 
early  suggested  by  Brazilian 
student,  127. 

events  increasing  importance  of, 
218. 

definition  of,  220-221. 
importance  of  pointed  out  by 
Naon,  384. 

importance  recognized  by 
French  author,  385. 
increased  by  World  War,  245. 
non- American  and  inter- 
American  aspects  of,  210. 
opposed  by  Pan  Latinists,  323. 
opposers  of  quoted,  328-332. 
prejudice  against  term,  360. 
school  of,  347. 

significance  according  to  vari- 
ous Hispanic  Americans,  223, 
224. 


Pan  Americanism,  various  Latin 
American  advocates  quoted, 
347-354-. 

Pan  American  Congresses,  first 
held  in  Washington,  196. 
second  in  Mexico,  199. 
third  in  Rio  de  Janeiro,  201. 
fourth  in  Buenos  Aires,  205. 
arbitration  discussed,  200. 
attitude  of  Latin  America 
toward,  197. 
results  of,  198. 

Pan  American  Federation  of 
Labor,  organization  and  prin- 
ciples of,  234,  235.  _ 

Pan  American  Financial  Confer- 
ence, sessions  in  Washington, 
227. 

Pan  American  Union,  dedication 
of  building,  218. 
department  of  education,  395. 
organization  of,  198. 
reorganization  at  third  Con- 
gress, 204. 

Panama,  early  treaties  concern- 
ing, 278,  279. 

resentment  against  seizure  of 
Taboga,  370. 

Panama  Canal,  history  of  traced, 
278. 

Panama  Congress,  called  by  Boli- 
var, 1824,  104. 

Bolivar’s  admission  of  failure 
of,  III. 

delegates  present,  104. 
instructions  of  delegates  of 
United  States,  107. 
purpose  of,  105. 
proceedings  and  conclusions  of, 
no. 

Pan  Latinism,  not  inherently  op- 
posed to  Pan  Americanism, 
361. 

opposed  to  Pan  Americanism, 

325. 

representatives  of,  325. 
reviews  published  to  advocate, 
338. 

strengthened  by  Spanish  Ameri- 
can War,  325. 

Paraguay,  educational  problem  of, 

82. 

intellectual  circle  of,  26. 

Perez,  Abel  J.,  need  of  religion,  95. 


INDEX 


413 


Peru,  education  in,  79,  82,  84. 

Pinochet,  Tencredo,  shows  Ameri- 
can misunderstandings,  360. 

Platt  Amendment,  text  of,  277. 

Poinsett,  Joel  R.,  appointed  agent 
to  South  America,  128. 

reception  of,  129,  130. 

Political  Idealism,  persistence  in 
Latin  America,  34. 

Population  of  Latin  America, 
density  of,  16. 

Prada,  Gonzales,  attacks  faults 
of  Peru,  49. 

Prado,  Eduardo,  indictment  of 
United  States,  336. 

Prado,  Javier,  admiration  for 
United  States,  354. 

Printing  presses,  early  inaugu- 
rated in  Hispanic  America,  20. 

Propaganda,  against  the  United 
States,  341-345. 

commercial  against  United 
States  in  Latin  America,  344- 
346. 

used  by  Clericals,  344. 

Psychology  of  Hispanic  Ameri- 
cans, differs  from  North 
Americans,  98. 

need  of  understanding  same, 

387. 

value  attributed  to  form,  387, 

388. 

Quesada,  Ernesto,  Pan  American- 
ism needs  intellectual  basis, 
392. 

quoted  concerning  world  war, 
246. 

quotes  United  States  political 
leaders  on  Monroe  Doctrine, 
147- 

visit  to  his  library,  28. 

Racial  Relations,  harmonious  in 
Latin  America,  39. 

Recognition  of  Spanish  American 
States.  Henry  Clay’s  strug- 
gle for,  135-137- 

formal  action  in  1822,  139. 

principles  laid  down  by  Adams, 
134- 

requested  by  Venezuela  and 
Provinces  of  La  Plata,  133, 
134- 


Religious  problem,  loss  of 
Church’s  prestige,  259. 
progress  of  evangelical  move- 
ment, 93,  94,  95. 
recognized  by  visitors  to  Latin 
America,  90. 

students’  attitude  toward,  89,  92. 

Restrepo,  Carlos  E.,  opposes  in- 
tervention, 339. 

Rio  de  Janeiro,  beauties  of,  41. 
elimination  of  yellow  fever  in, 
33- 

Roca,  Julio,  compares  North  and 
South  America,  388. 

Rodo,  Jose  E.,  advice  to  young 
men,  47. 

opposition  to  North  American 
materialism,  327. 

Root,  Elihu,  activities  in  Central 
American  conference,  298. 
address  at  Rio  de  Janeiro,  202. 
falsely  quoted,  340. 
letter  concerning  Nicaragua, 
308-310. 

recognition  of  Latin  American 
civilization,  17. 

said  to  be  imperialistic,  338,  339. 

Ross,  E.  A.,  statement  of  social 
problem,  69. 

Roosevelt,  Theodore,  attitude 
toward  Panama  Canal,  281. 
instruction  to  Mexican  Confer- 
ence delegates,  221. 
letter  to  Shaw  concerning 
Panama,  281. 

on  intervention  for  collection  of 
debts,  213,  215. 

recognition  of  older  Hispanic 
American  civilization,  386. 
remark  concerning  Panama, 
270. 

visit  to  South  America,  210. 

Salvador,  attitude  toward  United 
States,  312. 

Sanitation,  accomplishments  in 
Rio  de  Janeiro,  33. 
need  of  in  various  countries,  72. 

San  Martin,  Jose  de,  farewell  ad- 
dress, 382. 

favorable  to  American  unity, 
iox. 

Santo  Domingo,  educational  pro- 
gram for,  286,  287. 


414 


INDEX 


Santo  Domingo,  evil  results  of 
military  occupation,  289. 
financial  reorganization  of  by 
United  States,  282,  283. 
military  occupation  by  United 
States,  287. 

occupation  of  calls  for  help 
from  Latin  America,  332. 
proclamation  concerning  Amer- 
ican occupation,  text,  283,  284. 
withdrawal  of  United  States 
marines,  290. 

Sarmiento,  Domingo  F.,  basis  for 
regeneration  of  Argentina, 
45- 

commends  United  States,  324. 
works  on  government,  36. 

Scientists  of  Latin  America,  rep- 
resentatives named,  33. 

Second  American  Congress,  ses- 
sions at  Lima,  118. 

Semprum,  Jesus,  favors  Pan 
Americanism,  348. 

Shepherd,  W.  R.,  promoter  of 
American  friendship,  357. 

Shipping  Interests,  development 
in  Latin  America,  242. 

Shirt-sleeve  diplomacy,  danger  of, 
369,  370. 

Silliman,  John  M.,  influence  in 
Mexico,  400. 

Slavery,  early  abolition  in  Latin 
America,  35,  37. 

Social  Problem,  gravity  of  in 
Latin  America,  69,  70,  71. 

Socialism,  influence  in  Latin 
America,  259. 

Sociologists,  leading  ones  in  Latin 
America,  45. 

scarcity  of  in  Latin  America, 
56- 

Spain,  efforts  to  cultivate  kin- 
ship with  Hispanic  America, 
340. 

Spiritual  Ambassadors,  contribu- 
tions to  American  Unity,  398. 

Strikes,  spreading  in  Latin  Amer- 
ica, 239. 

Students,  attacks  on  the  Church, 
89,  92. 

brilliancy  of,  30. 
demand  for  modern  curriculum, 
367- 

influence  of,  31. 


Taft,  Wm.  H.,  falsely  quoted,  340. 
policy  toward  Nicaragua,  304. 

Temperance  Movement,  growth 
of  in  Latin  America,  71. 

Tamayo,  Franz,  strength  of  Bo- 
livian Indians,  61. 
strictures  on  Latin  American 
character,  49. 

Tropics,  new  use  of,  382. 

Turner,  Clorinda  Matto  de,  de- 
scription of  Indians’  abuses, 
59- 

Ugarte,  Manuel,  analyses  of  Latin 
American  life,  51. 
influence  of  Mexican  War  on 
Latin  America,  146. 
latest  attack  on  United  States, 
333,  334- 

political  weaknesses  of  Latin 
America,  65. 

United  States  Marines,  problems 
confronted  in  Haiti,  291-294. 

Unity  of  Central  America,  early 
movements  toward,  119. 

Unity  of  America,  address  of 
Elihu  Root,  202. 
advocated  by  Vicuna  Mackenna, 
224. 

attacked  by  Pan  Latinists,  329, 
330- 

attitude  of  Argentina,  116. 
championed  by  Peru,  115,  118. 
contribution  to  by  spiritual  am- 
bassadors, 398. 

debate  concerning  United  States 
attitude  toward,  125. 

“dream”  of  del  Valle,  100. 
fatal  influence  of  Mexican  War, 
142. 

favored  by  Bolivar,  103,  104, 
105. 

favored  by  early  American 
statesmen,  125,  126,  127. 
harm  done  by  United  States 
Senate  investigation  of  Mex- 
ico, 373- 

hindered  by  false  propaganda, 
.344,  345,  346.  . 
hindered  by  United  States  at- 
titude toward  League  of  Na- 
tions, 179. 
ideal  American,  401. 
importance  shown  by  Naon,  384. 


INDEX 


415 


Unity  of  America,  influence  of 
North  American  missionaries 
for,  357-. 

leadership  in  assumed  by  United 
States,  195. 

Mexico’s  efforts  for,  112. 
necessity  of  shown,  358,  359,  360. 
North  American  sympathy  with 
Brazil,  130. 

not  opposed  by  Hispanic  Amer- 
ican entente,  353. 
opportunities  of  the  present,  368. 
persistence  of  idea,  400. 
plan  of  Monteagudo,  101. 
present  activities  of  United 
States  in  developing,  243,  244. 
present  promoters  of  men- 
tioned, 357-. 

process  described  by  Nabuco, 
39i- 

promoted  by  better  acquaint- 
ance, 380. 

promoted  by  definition  of  Mon- 
roe Doctrine,  374. 
promoted  by  exchange  of  liter- 
ature, 395,  396. 

promoted  by  threats  from  Spain, 
1 19,  120. 

promoted  by  visit  of  North 
American  fleet,  369. 
promoted  by  World  War,  245. 
proposals  of  Panama  Congress 
toward,  no. 
shift  of  emphasis,  120. 
studies  of  Francisco  Castaneda, 
101,  122. 

sung  by  Chocano,  355. 

Universities,  Chile  sends  dele- 
gates to  United  States,  366. 
contributions  toward  Pan  Amer- 
icanism, 392,  393. 
dates  of  founding  in  Hispanic 
America,  18. 

exchange  of  professors  and 
students,  394. 

rector  of  La  Plata  quoted,  88. 
students  of  Latin  America  in 
North  America,  393,  395. 


Urtecho,  Rafael,  consistency  of 
American  friendship,  353. 
duty  of  United  States  toward 
Latin  America,  387. 

Uruguay,  friendly  attitude  toward 
United  States,  248,  249. 
new  experiments  in  democracy, 
37- 


Vargas  Vila,  J.  M.,  charges  of 
Yankee  imperialism,  331. 
Venezuela,  foreign  claims  in,  74. 
Villaran,  education  in  Peru,  84. 


Walker,  William,  invasion  of 
Central  America,  114. 

Webster,  Daniel,  depreciation  of 
Central  America,  381. 

Wilson,  Woodrow,  definition  of 
Monroe  Doctrine,  173,  186, 190. 

World  War,  attitude  of  Lat- 
in American  governments 
toward,  244. 

brought  humility  to  Hispanic 
America,  254. 

economic  influence,  227. 

effects  on  Latin  America  re- 
viewed, 268. 

evil  results  of  reaction  follow- 
ing, 368. 

influence  of  on  spiritual  life  of 
Latin  America,  251-255. 

liberal  movements  resulting 
from,  257. 

resultant  dangers  for  Hispanic 
America,  264. 

resultant  materialism,  260,  267. 


Zayas,  Enriquez,  R de,  necessity 
of  American  unity,  358. 

Zorilla  de  San  Martin,  Juan,  ad- 
dress to  North  American  sail- 
ors, 249. 

Zumeta,  Cesar,  analysis  of  Latin 
American  problems,  46. 


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